India, China to command 70% of $20-bn global biosimilars market

This finding was made by Omics Group, a worldwide publisher of scientific journals

India and China would together command around 70 per cent of the $20-billion global biosimilars market, supported by low-cost manufacturing, less expenditure incurred on research and development (R&D) and increased drug applications and approvals, according to Omics Group, a worldwide publisher of scientific journals.

Both countries are expected to grow at an annual rate of around 30 per cent during 2014-18, led by shorter duration involved in marketing biosimilars and increased demand for low-cost products. It is estimated that patents worth $80 billion for biosimilars are expected to be expired globally in 2015.

Biosimilars or follow-on biologics are defined as officially-approved, new versions of existing bio-pharmaceutical products for which the patents had expired.

In India, Hyderabad has all the essential prerequisites like good scientific and knowledge base, and infrastructure to grow into a market leader in biosmilars, Omics International Inc managing director, Gedela S Babu, said here on Monday.

In 2000, the first biosimilar was approved and marketed in India for hepatitis B. In the recent years, over 50 bio-pharmaceutical products were marketed in India by 20 companies, with more than half of them being biosimilars.

It is estimated that the potential savings in the US from at least 11 key biosimilars during the period 2014-18 could be $250 billion, according to Omics.