Multinationals and domestic drugmakers upping R&D investment in India

The signs are clear that India is seeing a big rise in pharmaceutical R&D investment, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

Multinational drug company Mylan (Nasdaq: MYL) is set to invest $6 billion on capex in India to incentivize R&D activity; biotech major Biocon (BSE: 532523) acquired Chennai-based R&D facility from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) through its subsidiary Biocon Biologics; Lupin (BSE: 500257) signing a $700 million licensing, development and commercialization agreement with Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim to develop and commercialize one of its lead MEK inhibitors - all the signs show Indian drug companies moving up the value chain, transforming into complex generic manufacturers with high-end R&D facilities.

With the Indian government said to be considering removing drugs using locally-manufactured active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from price control, leading players are accelerating their drug discovery efforts, seeking to build a robust research pipeline.