New Delhi–The number of pharmaceutical patent families originating in India has more than quadrupled over the past decade, while the country’s drug discovery pipeline has grown to more than 1,095 programs across 195 companies, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group and HealthKois.
The findings point to a broader shift in India’s pharmaceutical industry from generics-focused manufacturing toward innovation-led research and drug development.
India-origin pharmaceutical patent families increased to 2,995 in 2024 from about 716 in 2015. Private equity and venture capital investment in the pharmaceutical sector more than doubled to $731 million in fiscal 2026, the report said.
The number of biotechnology startups also increased from about 1,500 to 2,400 during the period.
India’s share of global pharmaceutical patents has risen from about 3 percent to 4 percent to roughly 10 percent, reflecting improvements in both the volume and quality of innovation, according to the report.
Indian companies have produced more than 10 novel drug assets over the past decade and are increasingly moving beyond generics and biosimilars to develop, license and commercialize innovative treatments for international markets.
The report identified several factors supporting the trend, including nearly $5 billion in government funding for early-stage and translational research, stronger collaboration between academic institutions and industry, and regulatory reforms that have reduced drug-development timelines from 180 to 270 days to between 60 and 120 days.
Shared research and manufacturing hubs, including Genome Valley and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms, have also helped strengthen the country’s life sciences ecosystem.
The report cited BIRSA 101, described as India’s first domestically developed CRISPR-based therapy, and NexCAR19, an Indian CAR-T treatment priced at about one-tenth the cost of comparable therapies overseas, as examples of the country’s emerging innovation capabilities.
“India’s innovation trajectory is gaining real momentum, and its evolution into a sustained innovation engine is well underway,” said Priyanka Aggarwal, Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG India and Southeast Asia.
“We are seeing India-origin science licensed by global pharma majors and indigenous CAR-T therapies treating patients at a fraction of the global cost. Capital that understands the science and is willing to back it through the early, uncertain years will be the difference between a handful of breakout successes and a durable innovation engine,” said Charles Janssen, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of HealthKois.
The report said India’s largest opportunity lies in combining its cost advantages, scientific workforce and extensive patient datasets to create globally competitive innovation platforms rather than competing solely in frontier scientific research.
It added that the next five years could determine whether India can convert those strengths into a sustainable and globally competitive life sciences innovation ecosystem. (Source: IANS)
