The Indian pharmaceutical market experienced a significant boost in 2024, with demand for certain drug categories experiencing double-digit growth compared to the previous year. According to the Indian Pharma Industry Performance report by Pharmarack, a market research firm, anti-infective drugs saw a 17.2% surge in demand, while gastrointestinal and respiratory drugs witnessed a 10.7% and 19.2% increase, respectively. This positive trend contrasts with the stagnant demand observed in 2022 and 2023. Despite the challenges, the overall pharma industry achieved a respectable 8.8% growth in 2024, with all therapeutic categories contributing to this positive outcome.
While the demand for drugs associated with cardiac therapy remained steady, aligning with long-term trends, the sale of pain and analgesic medications (painkillers) exhibited a seasonal uptick during the monsoon months. The last year has seen consistent sales for drugs associated with gynecological, derma, neuro, and central nervous system therapies. Notably, Augmentin, an antibiotic manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), emerged as the top-selling drug, as per the report.
Sheetal Sapale, Vice-President (Commercial) at Pharmarack, commented on the market trends, stating, “Majority of the therapy value trend is in sync with the long-term trend line for the therapy. However, each therapy has a few companies that have substantially driven the growth for the therapy. For the month of June 2024, majority of the top players have shown an encouraging value growth.”
Analyzing the broader market, the moving annual turnover (MAT) for the Indian pharmaceutical market rose by 7.6% between July 2023 and June 2024, reaching a total turnover of nearly ₹ 2 trillion. Although domestic market volumes decreased slightly by 0.1%, the MAT’s positive trajectory underscores the industry’s overall strength. Leading treatment categories like cardiac, anti-infectives, and gastrointestinal displayed robust volume growth in their MATs, with rates of 9.7%, 8.7%, and 8.4%, respectively. These three categories collectively represent approximately 38% of the Indian pharma market.
