India Expands Pharma Footprint in China: Cipla, Natco, Hetero Amongst the Winners

India is known for its generic drugs; it is also the largest supplier of the same across the globe. However, Indian pharmaceutical firms were hardly supplying generic drugs to China, but now they will. 

In a recent development, Indian pharma companies have won bids for supplying generic drugs to China in bulk quantities. One of the top drugs that these companies will supply is Dapagliflozin, which is one of the most common drugs in diabetes treatment. 

Which Indian pharmaceutical firms won the contracts?

As per the India-China Economic and Cultural Council (ICEC), the Indian pharmaceutical firms, namely Hetero Labs Ltd., Annora Pharma Pvt. Ltd., Natco Pharma, and Cipla Ltd., are among all the pharmaceutical firms that won the bids in the tender conducted by the Chinese Health Ministry for procuring pharma products for their hospitals.  

Hetero Drugs Ltd. and Cipla Ltd. from the pharmaceutical industry in India won the contract for supplying Dapagliflozin to China. As per the volume-based procurement (VBP) bidding process, these two pharma companies will be given a certain number of Chinese provinces where they will supply the drugs. 

Annora Pharma Pvt. Ltd, on the other hand, will supply Oxcarbazepine tablets, and Natco Pharma will supply Olaparib Tablets. 

Amongst the other Indian pharmaceutical companies, Kunshan Rotam Reddy Pharmaceuticals Co., which is a Chinese subsidiary of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, also won the bid and will supply four different products. 

A total of 272 pharma companies were pre-selected, and a total of 453 products were on the list. Indian pharma firms secured contracts for seven drugs out of the list. 

Generic Drug Market in China and India’s Prospects

As per ICEC, the generic drug for diabetes, Dapagliflozin, is one of the leading drugs in the small molecule drug segment, and its sales in the Chinese pharmaceutical market even exceed USD 1.14 billion of sales. Out of this total sales, drugs worth USD 700 million were for the public hospitals in China during 2024. 

Challenges in the Chinese Drug Market for Indian Pharma Firms

While China has a huge drug market but entering it was difficult. These winning bids can encourage Indian pharma firms to explore the Chinese drug market more. 

The Chinese pharma market is highly dominated by the local and multinational firms, who have almost monopolised the market with lower pricing and won the contracts due to VBP. Under this method, the firm quoting the lowest price gets the deal. However, the bulk supply is what they look at. 

Also, the price of the generic drugs has declined massively in the past ten years to reduce the burden on the aging population of the country. These low prices make it tough for the Indian firms in the Chinese drug market. It makes it more difficult for Indian companies to enter the Chinese drug market and also the survive in the long term. 

Another factor that has been working in their favour and not for India is China being the largest supplier of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (APIs) for the Indian pharma companies as well as globally. 

Overcoming the Challenges  

While there are many challenges indeed, ten Indian pharma companies have overcome these challenges to some extent and now have a strong foothold in China with their local production units for generic drugs. 

However, to hold the grounds and expand, these pharma companies need to scale up and achieve cost leadership, which can help them be relevant in the Chinese drug market. 

Silver Lining with the Bid Wins

So, these wins in the bidding process for the generic drugs can not only open the doors for the Indian pharmaceutical firms in the Chinese market but also help India narrow the trade deficit, which has almost reached a whopping USD 100 billion in China’s favour. These big wins by the pharma company are expected to bring down the trade deficit to some extent in the future, as Indian pharma exports can boost.  

Source: TheEconomicsTimes

Disclaimer: Investments in the securities market are subject to market risks; read all the related documents carefully before investing.