Indian biosimilars market to reach $ 40 bn by 2030: Study

The Indian biosimilars industry is expected to cross $ 40 billion by 2030 from $ 300 million in 2015, according to a study, jointly undertaken by Assocham and Sathguru Management Consultants, released at BioPharma conference at Hyderabad yesterday.

Of the $ 300 million Indian biosilimars market in 2015, domestic sales accounted for $ 250 million growing at CAGR of 14 percent, while exports contributed close to $ 51 million. With the introduction of a new regulatory policy in India and increased affordability that biosimilars offer, the domestic market is expected to grow at an accelerated pace and reach the target of $ 40 billion by 2030 & will command approximately 20 percent share in global market, according to Assocham-Sathguru report.

Globally, the study anticipates, the biosimilars market to grow from $ 2.2 billion in 2015 to $ 240 billion by 2030. “The biosimilars opportunity is nascent today and the 2015 estimated market size was only $ 2.2 billion. However, the recent US FDA approvals and market penetration stories emerging from Europe herald in the next phase of growth in biosimilars. Based on our analysis of the currently approved biologic drugs, clinical pipeline and expectations around price erosion and market penetration, the global market for biosimilars is estimated to $ 240 billion by 2030 in the optimistic scenario,” said Dr Pushpa Vijayaraghavan, director, Sathguru Management Consultants.

The Indian market for biosimilars is intensely competitive and will continue to be so. While the number of Indian companies that finally establish a foothold in developed markets will only be few, the domestic market itself will continue to have many players. 

Driving market expansion also calls for a collaborative effort from industry players as compared to the current strategy of going solo to market. Indian industry itself provides good example of such efforts. For example, in the case of DPP4 inhibitors for type 2 diabetes, marketing collaborations have been beneficially deployed to accelerate growth and product penetration.

“It is critical to have global risk-sharing collaborations to ensure regulated market presence does not remain an elusive dream for Indian industry. The need of the hour is to more aggressively seek co-investment partnerships across global entities, rest of world (RoW) companies as well as Indian peers. In India and RoW markets, the concern is the lukewarm level of market expansion despite availability of affordable biosimilars. The key to drive return on investment (RoI) in India will be to collaborate to collectively expand markets. Collaborations and innovative business models to de-risk the efforts will ultimately lead Indian industry to collective global success in this $ 240 billion opportunity,” added Dr Pushpa Vijayaraghavan.