Expenditures on Research & Development by 30 leading Indian pharmaceutical companies have gone up significantly by 19.7 per cent during the year ended March 2013 over the previous year. The focus of R&D by these companies is on new generic products in key therapeutic areas and not on new drug discoveries.
With higher spending on R&D they are set to tap upcoming opportunities from loss of patent exclusivity in the coming years. A net outcome of this trend is higher approvals for ANDAs and DMFs from highly regulated authorities in the USA, Europe and Japan. The higher investment in R&D has assisted well to establish strong presence in emerging markets and overcome fierce competition from multinational players. Biotechnology, CRAMS, and clinical trials will further boost the investments as multinational are looking India as preferred partner in R&D segment with availability of talent pool and affordability.
The R&D expenditure of Ranbaxy Laboratories, Torrent Pharma, Panacea Biotec, Venus Remedies, Parabolic Drugs and Divi’s Laboratories declined during 2012-13. But this was more than made up by increases averaging over 50 percent at some companies, says a report in PharmaBiz; Shasun Pharmaceuticals, Hikal, Unichem Laboratories, Biocon, Natco Pharma, Fresenius Kabi Oncology has pushed their R&D expenditure over 50 per cent during 20112-13. The R&D expenditure of Shasun Pharmaceuticals went up by 179 per cent to Rs.32.37 crore from Rs.11.62 crore and that of Hikal moved up by 139 per cent to Rs.31.85 crore from Rs.13.34 crore. Biocon’s registered strong R&D expenditure growth of 78.5 per cent to Rs.67.30 crore from Rs.37.70 crore. Unichem’s R&D investment jumped to Rs.103.34 crore from Rs.59.17 crore.
Sun Pharmaceutical, Piramal Healthcare, Wockhardt, Jubilant Lifesciences, Ipca Laboratories, Glenmark Pharma also registered handsome growth in R&D expenditure. Sun Pharmaceuticals has incurred R&D spending of Rs.310 crore, a growth of 42 per cent during 2012-13 and that of Jubilant Lifesciences moved up by 37.2 per cent to Rs.143.75 crore. Sun Pharmaceutical Advance Research Company’s R&D expenditure increased by 5.8 per cent to Rs.109 crore, which is higher than its net sales of Rs.87.82 crore during 2012-13
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
