India’s Pharma Market Grows 8.4% In FY25; Boosted By Chronic Therapies & New Drug Launches

India’s pharma market grew by 8.4% during the financial year 2024-25, propelled by strong performance in key chronic therapy areas, according to market research firm Pharmarack.

The cardiac segment led with a 10.8% value growth, followed closely by gastrointestinal (10.2%) and anti-diabetic (8%) therapies.

Together, these three therapy areas contributed 34% of the total pharma market sales, helping push the industry’s overall turnover to over ₹2.25 trillion.

Top-Selling Drugs Led By Chronic Treatments

Despite the chronic therapies dominating in growth, GSK’s antibiotic Augmentin emerged as the top-selling drug of FY25 with ₹816 crore in sales.

USV’s Glycomet GP, an anti-diabetic medication, followed closely with ₹803 crore in sales.

While value growth was strong, unit sales in the domestic market recorded a modest 1.2% increase, indicating that growth was largely price-driven.

Empagliflozin Patent Expiry Sparks Price War

March 2025 saw a significant market shift with the diabetes molecule empagliflozin going off-patent.

Within a month, 86 brands from 19 companies launched empagliflozin-based products. Sheetal Sapale, vice-president (commercial) at Pharmarack, noted a steep price drop—around 85%—with prices falling from ₹60-70 per tablet to just ₹5-15.

Despite a rise in volume, the value declined due to this price erosion.

Anti-Obesity Market Gets Boost From Mounjaro

The launch of Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) in March 2025 added momentum to India’s emerging anti-obesity market.

In just one month, Mounjaro contributed ₹1.4 crore to the segment’s ₹576 crore moving annual turnover. Semaglutide, another GLP-1-based drug, accounted for 69% of this total over the previous 12 months.

Double-Digit Growth For Leading Companies

Several leading pharma companies posted strong domestic value growth in March 2025. Sun Pharma (14.9%), Torrent Pharma (14.7%), Intas (12.8%), and Zydus (10.8%) all recorded double-digit growth.

Overall, the pharma market witnessed a 7.5% value growth and 1.8% unit growth in March alone, reflecting broad-based strength across segments.

Also Read: India’s $2.7 Billion PLI Scheme Set To Boost Local Electronics Manufacturing