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India’s Top Pharma Firms Outpace Rivals Amid Chronic Therapy Shift
India’s biggest drug companies grew their sales volumes steadily during the first eight months of 2026.
Smaller companies did not perform as consistently.
The overall pharmaceutical market also grew faster in value during this period.
More people are using medicines for long-term conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, breathing problems and central nervous system disorders.
These chronic and sub-chronic medicines now make up more than half of the market.
Large companies often have stronger brands, more products and wider distribution networks.
They also entered the semaglutide market early.
Mid-sized companies face competition from both larger companies and cheaper rivals.
However, not every large company grew, and some leading firms recorded negative volume growth in August.
India’s 10 largest pharmaceutical companies recorded positive average volume growth every month from January through August 2026.
Companies ranked 11th to 20th began with modest growth but turned negative in April and remained negative through August.
Indian pharmaceutical market value growth accelerated from 8% in January to 10.4% in August.
Chronic and sub-chronic therapies accounted for about 56% of the market in February, compared with 53% in 2022.
Large companies benefited from strong brands, broad portfolios, distribution reach and early participation in semaglutide markets.
- Who
- India’s largest pharmaceutical companies, mid-tier drugmakers and smaller rivals.
- What
- The top 10 pharmaceutical companies maintained positive average volume growth while the 11th-to-20th-ranked group generally declined.
- Where
- The Indian pharmaceutical market.
- When
- The analysis covers January through August 2026, with additional market comparisons from 2022 and data points through July.
- Why
- Large companies benefited from stronger brands, broader portfolios, deeper distribution and exposure to faster-growing chronic therapies and semaglutide products.
Large Pharma Advantage
Mid-Tier Company Challenge
Reasons for volume performance
Large Pharma Advantage
Larger companies benefited from strong brands, broad portfolios, wider distribution and greater exposure to chronic therapies.
Mid-Tier Company Challenge
Companies ranked 11th to 20th had less distribution reach, narrower portfolios and fewer new-product capabilities.
Competitive position
Large Pharma Advantage
Major companies gained volume through deeper penetration of Tier-II and Tier-III towns, institutional channels and early semaglutide launches.
Mid-Tier Company Challenge
Mid-tier companies faced pressure from larger firms with stronger sales forces and from smaller, more price-competitive rivals.
Market transition
Large Pharma Advantage
The shift toward value-driven chronic and sub-chronic therapies created opportunities for companies with established brands and capabilities in major therapy areas.
Mid-Tier Company Challenge
Companies with greater exposure to acute, volume-driven therapies may face a less favorable market mix as chronic therapies expand.
Key facts
- Top-10 average growth
- Monthly average MAT unit growth stayed between 1.49% and 1.99% from January through August 2026.
- Overall market growth
- Indian pharmaceutical market MAT value growth rose from 8% in January to 10.4% in August.
- Chronic therapy share
- Chronic and sub-chronic therapies represented about 56% of the market in February, up from 53% in 2022.
- Acute therapy share
- Acute therapies accounted for 44% of the market in February, down from 47% in 2022.
- Fastest volume performer
- Cipla’s MAT unit growth ranged from 7% to 9.6% between January and August.
- Semaglutide tracking
- PharmaTrac was tracking 26 semaglutide brands from 13 companies by the end of March.
- New-launch contribution
- New product launches contributed an estimated 3.8 percentage points to 12.1% IPM growth as of July.
Quotes
Sheetal Sapale
Vice president-commercial at Pharmarack
“Changing dynamics of the IPM indicate a strong shift from stable, seasonal demand-driven acute therapies to lifestyle-driven non-communicable diseases that are more chronic and sub-chronic in nature.”
rediff.com
“Second, the newly opened Semaglutide market was readily occupied by the major players, who had existing GLP-1 manufacturing capability with large-scale sales and distribution forces.”
rediff.com
Sources
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