4 minutes of readingBombayFebruary 10, 2026 10:07 am
“We fight monopoly, not science,” said Dr. Yusuf Hamied of Cipla, recalling how Indian drugmakers campaigned for the Patents Act of 1972. He described telling then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that Indians should not be denied propranolol, a life-saving beta blocker marketed as Inderal by Imperial Chemical Industries, “just because its creator doesn’t like the color of our skin.”
The comment came during a panel discussion titled ‘Past and Future of the Indian Pharma Industry’ at the launch of the book ‘Made in India: The Story of Desh Bandhu Gupta, Lupine and Indian Pharma’. The discussion, moderated by the vice president of TeamLease and indian express Columnist Manish Sabharwal, highlighted Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma, GV Prasad of Dr Reddy’s, Dr MM Sharma of UDCT, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon and Vinita Gupta of Lupine. The book, co-authored by Sabharwal and journalist Sundeep Khanna, chronicles the life of Lupine founder Desh Bandhu Gupta, who grew up in rural Rajasthan and built one of the world’s largest tuberculosis drug manufacturers. His journey was described as instrumental to the rise of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.
Hamied highlighted Cipla’s role in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, recalling how the company reduced the cost of antiretrovirals such as tenofovir from $20,000 per patient per year to $300. He also said the biggest challenge in India was “acceptability,” noting that doctors often ask why a drug doesn’t come from Pfizer or Glaxo before trusting local innovation.
Dilip Shanghvi spoke about the risks of innovation. “Three or four of our products, costing billions of rupees, have failed. That is the cost of doing this business,” he said. He added that the challenge was not only to invent new medicines but also to improve existing ones.
GV Prasad explained the difference between generics and fast followers. “It’s like football and cricket, very different games,” he said. Fast followers must be “best in class” and require expensive testing. He argued that India underestimates China, which has built a robust ecosystem with fluid regulation, internal reimbursements, advanced scientific institutions and returning management talent.
Dr MM Sharma highlighted the importance of collaboration between academia and industry. “Whenever you propose something new, the first question is: Has anyone done it before? Unless you recognize failure, you won’t succeed,” he said. He called India’s reluctance to lead a cultural problem and insisted that academic research must be measured globally and at the same time conducted locally.
Vinita Gupta clarified the concept of branded generics, citing Lupine’s success with Suprax, an antibiotic marketed in the United States as an off-patent brand. “India is a branded generics market, 97 per cent off-patent brands and 3 per cent patented products,” he said. He added that Lupine’s strength in respiratory medications reflects its legacy in tuberculosis.
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The panel also discussed the role of AI and biology in future innovation. Speakers argued that India does not need to match Western spending levels and said innovation depends on new approaches rather than bigger budgets. Prasad pointed to Glenmark’s 2025 licensing deal with AbbVie for its investigational antibody ISB 2001, valued at $700 million upfront, as an example of Indian innovation with global value.
Sabharwal closed the debate by pointing out India’s paradox: While the country supplies most of the world’s vaccines and a large share of generic drugs, it earns only about 6 percent of global pharmaceutical revenues. He said the challenge ahead is to move from volume to value, with a goal of $350 billion in pharmaceutical exports by 2047.