Pharma industry must focus on R&D: Eco Survey

The Economic Survey 2024-25 highlights the rapid growth of India’s medical devices industry, with a strong 15% CAGR (compound annual growth rate). At present, the nation holds a 1.5% share of the global market in the industry and ranks fourth in market size in Asia, trailing behind Japan, China and South Korea.

On a global pedestal, India has successfully established itself as one of the top 20 medical device markets.

India is making remarkable advancements in cell and gene therapy. In October 2023, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSO) approved the nation’s first indigenously developed CAR-T cell therapy. This therapy is claimed to be the most affordable globally. The CAR-T Cell therapy has been developed by Prof. Rahul Purwar and his team at the BSBE Department, IIT Bombay in close association with Tata Memorial Centre and ImmunoACT. 

To speed up the availability of newer drugs such as gene therapies, orphan drugs, drugs representing significant therapeutic advantage in the country, the CDSO has notified the US, the UK, Japan, Australia, Canada and the European Union, enabling waiver of local clinical trial for new drugs that are already approved and marketed in the notified countries.

“The overall pharma landscape of India points towards a need to focus on innovation, new drug development and biopharmaceuticals, as R&D spending still lags behind global leaders,” it adds.

Among the top five pharmaceutical producers, the US topped with a strong 4.7% QoQ growth in Q3 2024, followed by Japan at 1.4% and China recorded 0.9%. However, Switzerland stumbled with a 2.1% decline and India experienced a slight drop of 1.2%, as noted by UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation).