India's CRDMO Market to Reach $25 Billion by 2035: BCG-IPSO Report

India's CRDMO sector has good potential for growth, with the estimated size of the market projected to reach $22-25 billion by 2035. BCG and the Innovative Pharmaceutical Services Organisation (IPSO), formed recently disclosed that India is gaining importance as a global pharmaceutical innovation center. This growth is being driven by a favorable cost structure, a faster project initiation time frame, and increasing competency in advanced biologics.

"India’s CRDMO sector has all the right ingredients to scale. However, to compete at a global level, Indian CRDMOs must not only scale capabilities in new modalities but also work together to build a resilient supply chain and streamline regulatory pathways", Manni Kantipudi, CEO and Whole-time Director, Aragen Life Sciences.

With growth in India projected at a CAGR of 15% for 2035, the CRDMO market should outpace the growth of the rest of the world. This expansion is fueled by the growth in demand for advanced therapies like ADCs, DNA and RNA therapeutics, and gene therapy, along with global supply chain adjustments. India can initiate projects in 90% less time than the time taken in the West coupled with cost competitiveness; thus, India is favored for pharmaceutical outsourcing.

India only accounted for about 2-3% share of the global CRDMO market, worth $140-145 billion at this time. The report points out that with the ongoing supply chain diversification, Indian CRDMOs have a $10 billion opportunity to get to work with western pharmaceutical companies.

Global supply chain diversification accelerated by pricing pressure, policy initiatives such as the IRA that incentivize offshoring, and deepening of local supply chains act as the key drivers of growth. Accordingly, India must meet major challenges in the scale of talent availability, regulatory efficiency, development of local suppliers, funding availability, and improvement of ESG compliance to sustain this growth.

As per response, 11 leading CRDMOs of India have formed IPSO to promote collaborations, innovation, and policies favoring the development of CRD among the Indian government, which also has grown the commitment for biotech and pharma innovations to beyond Rs 25,000 crore, creating a self-dependent ecosystem.

According to the report, the five imperatives for unlocking India's CRDMO market potential will include acceleration of the talent pipeline creation, regulatory simplifications, strengthening the supplier ecosystem, capital access improvements, and sustainability practice advancements.

"The Indian CRDMO sector is poised for a major transformation, with the potential to become a leader in serving the global biopharma and life sciences outsourcing market, realising this opportunity will require change and collaboration among all stakeholders in the Indian CRDMO ecosystem", said Peter Bains, CEO designate, Syngene International.