Indian drugmakers shift from US generics to new markets

Indian companies make lots of medicines, including cheaper copies called generics, and sell many of them in America.

The American government, led by Donald Trump, wants medicines sold in America to be made in America.

So it put a big new tax, called a tariff, on some medicines made in other countries, and said it might do the same for generics in 2028.

That made selling to America harder and riskier for Indian medicine companies.

So companies like Sun Pharma, Lupin and Dr Reddy's decided to sell their medicines in more countries instead.

They are also making special, harder-to-make medicines that other companies don't copy as easily.

Their sales fell in America but grew in Europe, Russia, India and other regions.

One diabetes medicine called semaglutide had a quality problem, and Dr Reddy's had to stop supplying it for now.

The companies say it takes too long to move their factories to America, so they are looking for new customers around the world.

For now, they are hoping that new countries, new medicines and their home market in India will keep them strong.