India remains regarded as a moderately attractive proposition, as illustrated by the fact that it once again holds an unchanged eighth position in BMI's Q109 regional Business Environment Rankings for Asia Pacific. While the fast-growing population in India will represent one of the main drivers of pharmaceutical growth in the coming years, low per capita consumption and emphasis on generics hamper the level of market development. Similarly, an excessive amount of red tape, underdeveloped infrastructure and the deficient legal framework remain barriers to investment, although the government is striving to improve the regulatory environment, with the imminent creation of the Department of Pharmaceuticals. Nevertheless, in December 2008, India's drug price regulator decided to lower prices of 46 brands and to include 254 new medicine brands in the list of price-controlled drugs, despite an announced increase of prices of 31 medicine brands.

In the meantime, the domestic generics industry continues to expand, both locally and abroad, although it has not all been plain sailing. In late 2008, Indian Zydus Cadila - a unit of Cadila Healthcare - purchased Italy-based Etna Biotech from Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell, while Sun Pharma acquired 100% of the US-based narcotic producer and importer Chattem Chemicals. On the other hand, Lupin recently became the third drugmaker to be accused of sub-standard manufacturing by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which will attract greater scrutiny on the sector as a result. Other Indian companies facing similar problems in the past include Ranbaxy Laboratories, Sun's' US-based subsidiary, Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, as well as Wockhardt and Granules India.

The above developments will have an impact on Indian generics exports. According to the recently released figures by news provider Pharmabiz, the annual growth of India's pharmaceutical export sector is down by more than half. Key reasons include increased competition in the highly regulated markets of the US and Europe and the steady appreciation of the rupee. Nevertheless, BMI believes that the fundamentals of the sector are sound and we expect high double-digit growth to be maintained over the medium term. A victory for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party in the US general election in November 2008 will increase generic substitution in the world's largest pharmaceutical market, while the 2011 patent cliff provides yet the greatest opportunity for Indian generics exports.

Some Key Topics Covered:

India Pharmaceutical Industry SWOT

Deficiencies Of IP Regime

Patent Disputes

Counterfeit Medicines

Pricing And Reimbursement

Healthcare Sector

Healthcare Funding

Healthcare Insurance

Pharmaceutical Industry

Company Developments

Recent Developments in the Clinical Trials Industry

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Biotechnology Sector

Recent Biotechnology Sector Developments

Traditional Medicines

Medical Devices

Regulation of Medical Devices

Recent Developments In Medical Devices Sector

Industry Forecast Scenario

Overall Market Forecast

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dcfb9a/india_pharmaceutic

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