Pharmaceuticals

Stratum 2 · Assembled goods

Pharmaceuticals

Discovers, makes and distributes medicines, from small-molecule generics to biologics. The world prescription-medicine market was about US$ 1.67 trillion (EUR 1.48 trillion) at ex-manufacturer prices in 2025, 54.7% of it in North America and 23.7% in Europe¹; IQVIA forecasts spending above US$ 2.6 trillion by 2030⁵. Innovation is concentrated in the US and Europe, China dominates starting materials, and India supplies about 20% of the world's generic medicines².¹

India. India is third in the world by volume and eleventh by value, with a domestic market of about US$ 60 billion and exports of US$ 30.5 billion in FY25, a third of them to the US^2,3; the weak spot is starting materials: in FY25 India imported about US$ 4.35 billion of APIs, bulk drugs and intermediates, 73.7% of it by value from China⁶.

Where ₹100 of pharmaceuticals output goes

Where ₹100 of pharmaceuticals output goes Every rupee of sales is paid out to someone along the chain. This splits ₹100 of output by who finally receives it, so you can see how exposed the industry is to commodity, chemical and energy prices. Commodities ₹7.3 Chemicals ₹3.7 Energy ₹12.1 Wages and…

Price links with supplier industries

Price links with supplier industries How the industries this one buys from shape its prices: the share of its costs they make up, and how their prices have moved together. Tap a row for the charts. Hover or tap ? for what each measure means. Supplier industry Cost share Raw-material mix…

Follow one offering through the chain

Follow one offering through the chain 2 Example story · 6 steps · India A strip of paracetamol made in India Follow a Dolo 650 tablet from a chemical plant in China or Gujarat to your chemist's counter. 1 / 6 · Starting materials and inputs A key chemical, mostly from China 73.7% China's share of…

Buys directly from

Buys directly from Paper and packaging Water and sanitation Depends on through its suppliers Wood products Sells directly into Healthcare services

Value chain, from upstream to the customer

Value chain, from upstream to the customer Criticality to the chain: 5 · Chokepoint 4 · Critical 3 · Important 2 · Supporting 1 · Commodity service Stage 1 Discovery and development Innovator pharma and biotech companies 4 · Critical Discover new molecules, run clinical trials and hold the patents…

What the whole chain draws on

What the whole chain draws on Every commodity, chemical and energy tile named by the enterprises above; ×n shows how many of them depend on it. Open any tile for its full detail. Commodities (6) Su Sugar ×2 Mz Maize ×2 Qz Silica sand B Boron Al Aluminium Tm Timber Chemicals (23) Rgt Reagents and…

Chokepoints and risks

Chokepoints and risks About 73.7% of India's US$ 4.35 billion of API and intermediate imports in FY25 came from China, so a Chinese plant shutdown or export curb hits Indian generics 6 . A single US FDA warning letter or import alert can halt exports from a plant; the US takes over a third of…

Sources

Sources The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures 2026 (IQVIA MIDAS data for 2025) EFPIA, 2026 India's pharmaceutical industry 3rd largest globally by volume, 11th by value (citing Economic Survey 2025-26) IANS, 2026 India's pharmaceutical exports reach over 30 billion dollar in financial year…

Relationship cards

• Healthcare services: Medicines took about a fifth of India's current health expenditure in 2022-23, and households still paid 43.4% of total health spending out of pocket; price ceilings and cheap generics are how the state tries to cut the medicine bill. (researched)
• Antibiotic intermediates (6-APA, 7-ACA): 6-APA and 7-ACA are the molecular cores from which penicillins such as amoxicillin and cephalosporins such as ceftriaxone are made, so generic antibiotic makers cannot work without them. Production is concentrated in China, and India is using incentives, floor prices and trade remedies to rebuild its own fermentation chain. (researched)
• Methanol: Methanol is a crucial solvent for making and purifying drug intermediates and APIs, and India imports over 90% of the methanol it uses, mostly from the Middle East, so a Gulf supply shock reaches Indian drug makers directly. (researched)
• Pharma starting materials and intermediates: Key starting materials and intermediates are the chemical building blocks of every API, and India, a large generic drug maker, bought about 72% of its bulk drug and intermediate imports from China in FY2023-24; the PLI scheme for bulk drugs has started domestic output but has not yet cut that share. (researched)
• E-commerce and digital marketplaces: Pharmaceuticals buys from E-commerce and digital marketplaces; pharmaceuticals depends on E-commerce and digital marketplaces.
• Education and research: Pharmaceuticals buys from Education and research; pharmaceuticals depends on education and research.
• Finance: banking, insurance, markets: Pharmaceuticals buys from Finance: banking, insurance, markets; pharmaceuticals depends on finance: banking, insurance, markets.
• Machinery and equipment: Pharmaceuticals buys from Machinery and equipment; pharmaceuticals depends on machinery and equipment.
• Paper and packaging: Pharmaceuticals buys from Paper and packaging; pharmaceuticals depends on paper and packaging.
• Plastic and rubber products: Pharmaceuticals buys from Plastic and rubber products; pharmaceuticals depends on plastic and rubber products.
• Public administration, defence and security: Pharmaceuticals buys from Public administration, defence and security; pharmaceuticals depends on public administration, defence and security.
• Software and IT services: Pharmaceuticals buys from Software and IT services; pharmaceuticals depends on software and IT services.
• Transport and logistics: Pharmaceuticals buys from Transport and logistics; pharmaceuticals depends on transport and logistics.
• Water and sanitation: Pharmaceuticals buys from Water and sanitation; pharmaceuticals depends on water and sanitation.
• Wholesale and retail trade: Pharmaceuticals buys from Wholesale and retail trade; pharmaceuticals depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• Acetic acid: Pharmaceuticals depends on acetic acid.
• Aluminium: Pharmaceuticals depends on aluminium.
• Amino acids (lysine, methionine): Pharmaceuticals depends on amino acids (lysine, methionine).
• Boilers, furnaces and stoves: Pharmaceuticals depends on boilers, furnaces and stoves.
• Boron: Pharmaceuticals depends on boron.
• Carbon dioxide: Pharmaceuticals depends on carbon dioxide.
• Chiral and specialty building blocks: Pharmaceuticals depends on chiral and specialty building blocks.
• Combustion road vehicles: Pharmaceuticals depends on combustion road vehicles.
• Custom synthesis (CDMO): Pharmaceuticals depends on custom synthesis (CDMO).
• Data centres: Pharmaceuticals depends on data centres.
• Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectors: Pharmaceuticals depends on distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectors.
• Energy in buildings: Pharmaceuticals depends on energy in buildings.
• Energy-intensive industry: Pharmaceuticals depends on energy-intensive industry.
• Glycerine: Pharmaceuticals depends on glycerine.
• Heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration: Pharmaceuticals depends on heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration.
• Hydrochloric acid: Pharmaceuticals depends on hydrochloric acid.
• Isopropanol: Pharmaceuticals depends on isopropanol.
• Latent heat and cold storage: Pharmaceuticals depends on latent heat and cold storage.
• Maize: Pharmaceuticals depends on maize.
• Natural gas: Pharmaceuticals depends on natural gas.
• Nitrogen gas: Pharmaceuticals depends on nitrogen gas.
• PVC: Pharmaceuticals depends on PVC.
• Paracetamol: Pharmaceuticals depends on paracetamol.
• Peptides and oligonucleotides: Pharmaceuticals depends on peptides and oligonucleotides.
• Pharmaceutical excipients: Pharmaceuticals depends on pharmaceutical excipients.
• Polypropylene: Pharmaceuticals depends on polypropylene.
• Reagents and high-purity lab chemicals: Pharmaceuticals depends on reagents and high-purity lab chemicals.
• Silica sand: Pharmaceuticals depends on silica sand.
• Silicones: Pharmaceuticals depends on silicones.
• Small-molecule APIs: Pharmaceuticals depends on small-molecule APIs.
• Starch and cellulose derivatives: Pharmaceuticals depends on starch and cellulose derivatives.
• Sugar: Pharmaceuticals depends on sugar.
• Thermal coal: Pharmaceuticals depends on thermal coal.
• Timber: Pharmaceuticals depends on timber.
• Titanium dioxide: Pharmaceuticals depends on titanium dioxide.
• Toluene: Pharmaceuticals depends on toluene.