The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry today is in the front rank of India s science-b ased industries with wide ranging

capabilities in the complex field of drug manu facture and technology. It ranks very high in the third world, in terms of techn ology, quality and range of medicines manufactured. From simple headache pills t o sophisticated antibiotics and complex cardiac compounds, almost every type of medicine is now made indigenously. Playing a key role in promoting and sustaining development in the vital field of medicines, Indian Pharma Industry boasts of quality producers and many units ap proved by regulatory authorities in USA and UK. International companies associat ed with this sector have stimulated, assisted and spearheaded this dynamic devel opment in the past 53 years and helped to put India on the pharmaceutical map of the world. Growth Scenario in 2010 India's pharmaceutical industry is now the third largest in the world in terms o f volume. Its rank is 14th in terms of value. Between September 2008 and Septemb er 2009, the total turnover of India's pharmaceuticals industry was US$ 21.04 bi llion. The domestic market was worth US$ 12.26 billion. This was reported by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. As per a report by IMS Health India, the Indian pharmaceutical market reached US$ 10.04 b illion in size in July 2010. A highly organized sector, the Indian Pharma Indust ry is estimated to be worth $ 4.5 billion, growing at about 8 to 9 percent annua lly. Know more out this in our article on Indian Pharmaceutical Industry- Future Trends Also check out Pharmaceutical Market Trends 2010 Leading Pharmaceutical Companies In the domestic market, Cipla retained its leadership position with 5.27 per cen t share. Ranbaxy followed next. The highest growth was for Mankind Pharma (37.2% ). Other leading companies in the Indian pharma market in 2010 are: Sun Pharma (25.7%) Abbott (25%) Zydus Cadila (24.1%) Alkem Laboratories (23.3%) Pfizer (23.6 %) GSK India (19%) Piramal Healthcare (18.6 %) Lupin (18.8 %) For details check out List of Top 10 Pharmaceutical Companies in India Future Prospects The Indian pharmaceuticals market is expected to reach US$ 55 billion in 2020 fr om US$ 12.6 billion in 2009. This was stated in a report title "India Pharma 202 0: Propelling access and acceptance, realising true potential" by McKinsey & Com pany. In the same report, it was also mentioned that in an aggressive growth sce nario, the pharma market has the further potential to reach US$ 70 billion by 20 20 Due to increase in the population of high income group, there is every likelihoo d that they will open a potential US$ 8 billion market for multinational compani es selling costly drugs by 2015. This was estimated in a report by Ernst & Young . The domestic pharma market is estimated to touch US$ 20 billion by 2015. The h ealthcare market in India to reach US$ 31.59 billion by 2020. The sale of all ty pes of pharmaceutical drugs and medicines in the country stands at US$ 9.61 bill ion, which is expected to reach around US$ 19.22 billion by 2012. Thus India wou ld really become a lucrative destination for clinical trials for global giants. There was another report by RNCOS titled "Booming Pharma Sector in India" in whi ch it was projectedt that the pharmaceutical formulations industry is expected t o prosper in the same manner as the pharmaceutical industry. The domestic formul ations market will grow at an annual rate of around 17% in 2010-11, owing to inc

reasing middle class population and rapid urbanisation. Read More in Future Pros pects of Indian Pharma Industry. Characteristics of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry The Indian Pharmaceutical sector is highly fragmented with more than 20,000 regi stered units. It has expanded drastically in the last two decades. The leading 2 50 pharmaceutical companies control 70% of the market with market leader holding nearly 7% of the market share. It is an extremely fragmented market with severe price competition and government price control. The pharmaceutical industry in India meets around 70% of the country's demand fo r bulk drugs, drug intermediates, pharmaceutical formulations, chemicals, tablet s, capsules, orals and injectibles. There are about 250 large units and about 80 00 Small Scale Units, which form the core of the pharmaceutical industry in Indi a (including 5 Central Public Sector Units). These units produce the complete ra nge of pharmaceutical formulations, i.e., medicines ready for consumption by pat ients and about 350 bulk drugs, i.e., chemicals having therapeutic value and use d for production of pharmaceutical formulations. Following the de-licensing of the pharmaceutical industry, industrial licensing for most of the drugs and pharmaceutical products has been done away with. Manuf acturers are free to produce any drug duly approved by the Drug Control Authorit y. Technologically strong and totally self-reliant, the pharmaceutical industry in India has low costs of production, low R&D costs, innovative scientific manpo wer, strength of national laboratories and an increasing balance of trade. The P harmaceutical Industry, with its rich scientific talents and research capabiliti es, supported by Intellectual Property Protection regime is well set to take on the international market. Why India? Competent workforce: India has a pool of personnel with high managerial and tech nical competence as also skilled workforce. It has an educated work force and En glish is commonly used. Professional services are easily available. Cost-effective chemical synthesis: Its track record of development, particularly in the area of improved cost-beneficial chemical synthesis for various drug mol ecules is excellent. It provides a wide variety of bulk drugs and exports sophis ticated bulk drugs. Legal & Financial Framework: India has a 53 year old democracyand hence has a so lid legal framework and strong financial markets. There is already an establishe d international industry and business community. Information & Technology: It has a good network of world-class educational insti tutions and established strengths in Information Technology. Globalisation: The country is committed to a free market economy and globalizati on. Above all, it has a 70 million middle class market, which is continuously gr owing. Consolidation: For the first time in many years, the international pharmaceutica l industry is finding great opportunities in India. The process of consolidation , which has become a generalized phenomenon in the world pharmaceutical industry , has started taking place in India. Steps to strengthen the Industry Indian companies need to attain the right product-mix for sustained future growt h. Core competencies will play an important role in determining the future of ma ny Indian pharmaceutical companies in the post product-patent regime after 2005. Indian companies, in an effort to consolidate their position, will have to incr

easingly look at merger and acquisition options of either companies or products. This would help them to offset loss of new product options, improve their R&D e fforts and improve distribution to penetrate markets. Research and development has always taken the back seat amongst Indian pharmaceu tical companies. In order to stay competitive in the future, Indian companies wi ll have to refocus and invest heavily in R&D. The Indian pharmaceutical industry also needs to take advantage of the recent ad vances in biotechnology and information technology. The future of the industry w ill be determined by how well it markets its products to several regions and dis tributes risks, its forward and backward integration capabilities, its R&D, its consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, co-marketing and licensing agree ments.