Innovative Meds: Global-Domestic Pharma Collaboration in India

Indian drug firms are exploring opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), an $8.9 billion pharmaceutical (pharma) market, as the latter is keen to procure more pharmaceutical products from India.

“About three months ago, a delegation from KSA visited India and held stakeholder meetings. The KSA market has stringent regulatory authorities, and drug approvals take time. KSA is now interested in sourcing drugs made in US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)-approved or other stringent regulatory body-approved plants in India,” said Sudarshan Jain, secretary-general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), a pharma industry body.

IPA members account for 60 percent of the domestic market and about 80 percent of India’s exports of pharma products.

Jain added that Indian players are exploring opportunities to either set up manufacturing units in KSA or they can opt for local stockists in that market. He further said that India can be the supplier of quality-assured drugs to meet the medicine requirements in KSA.

The KSA pharma market size was around $8.9 billion in 2022. The vaccine and biologics market size in Saudi Arabia is about $2.3 billion, with an approximately 17 percent cumulative growth rate.

KSA can serve as a gateway to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which has a market size of $130 billion.