September 28, 2015.
India's pharma contract manufacturing industry is growing at 20%, according to the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA).
The current market value is estimated at 50% of domestic production, which roughly translates to US$ 5.3BN, with multinationals holding 20-25% of the domestic pharmaceutical market.
The Indian government is now looking at incentivizing the upgrade of Schedule M facilities, with a potential 1000 additional units being certified WHO-GMP compliant.
Dr P. V. Appaji, Director General of Pharmexcil, the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India, said that multinationals in the country have begun to outsource the manufacture of some of their products to Indian companies. He said that the state of some of Europe's "aging plants" may open up enormous opportunities to Indian contract manufacturing, as European companies consider relocating their units to India or outsourcing to Indian manufacturers.
India is also inviting Japan’s pharma industry to locate its units in the country, in either wholly owned or joint partnerships with Indian companies. “Around 20 Japanese companies have already [expressed] interest in leveraging the contract manufacturing benefits from [our] US FDA-approved facilities", added Dr Appaji.