New Delhi [India], December 11 : India's Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CRDMO) sector is poised for accelerated growth, supported by surging global pharma outsourcing, rising demand for complex modalities, and geopolitical supply-chain realignment, according to a report by Kotak Mutual Fund.
The report sourced from multiple industry studies notes that the Indian CRDMO market is projected to clock a 13 per cent CAGR between FY24 and FY29, expanding from USD 8.2 billion in 2024 to USD 15.4 billion by 2029.
CRDMO stands for Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organization, a type of company in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry that offers integrated, end-to-end services.
India's global market share is expected to rise from 3.8 per cent in 2024 to 5 per cent by 2029, driven largely by business diversion from Rest-of-World markets.
The report highlights that the global CRDMO industry itself is expanding at a 9 per cent CAGR, driven by rising drug development complexity, growing biotech pipelines, and increasing reliance on outsourced development and manufacturing.
India, currently a nascent but rapidly scaling participant in the global CRDMO landscape, is emerging as a competitive alternative destination for advanced pharma outsourcing.
The country houses the highest number of US-FDA-approved API manufacturing facilities globally, and benefits from significantly lower capex and operating costs compared to the US, Europe, and most of APAC.
The report attributes India's right to win to a combination of deep process-chemistry expertise, strong regulatory track record, and an expanding talent pool. India accounts for 29 per cent of STEM graduates globally, far ahead of most developed economies.
The report notes that China+1 dynamics remain a major structural tailwind. With global pharma companies diversifying supply chains, India stands to capture USD 5 billion of outsourcing demand migrating from China and other regions.
Chinese CRDMO firms have grown at a strong 24 per cent CAGR in 2019-24, but geopolitical risks and client concentration concerns are prompting multinational firms to diversify.
Indian CRDMO companies are increasingly moving up the value chain, expanding from legacy intermediate manufacturing into integrated research-to-commercial manufacturing, supported by significant industry capex.
Overall, the outlook for India's CRDMO sector remains robust, with the industry expected to play an increasingly central role in global pharma R&D and manufacturing as companies seek cost-efficient, high-quality, and diversified outsourcing partners.
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