Pharma outsourcing 75 percent of India's MPO: Study

At $2.5-3.1 billion, pharmaceutical outsourcing market, excluding contract manufacturing services, accounts for about 75 percent of the India's medical process outsourcing (MPO) segment, a study stated here on Tuesday.

The MPO segment is currently estimated at $3.3-4.2 billion, according to a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and global professional services organisation Earnst&Young.

While the payer outsourcing market constitutes $700-900 million of India's MPO market, the provider market accounts for the remaining share of about $100-200 million, said the study 'Medical Process Outsourcing in India'.

The recent US regulation on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) together with the proposed introduction of ICD-10 standards has given impetus to the MPO market.

Besides, domestic players are also gradually moving up the value chain in terms of service offerings while maintaining their cost competitiveness, it said.

"All of these combined will give a boost to the MPO market, with the Indian payer BPO market is expected to grow at around 10 percent year-on-year in the next three to four years, provider outsourcing at more than 30 percent from 2011-2016, and the CRO market at 18-20 percent in the coming years," the report stated.

"We believe that there has been an ample push from health care payers, providers and pharmaceutical companies to move non-core processes to third-party service providers, and India has been one of the leading destinations for outsourcing in this space," D.S. Rawat, Assocham secretary general, said.

"India has emerged as the second largest destination after the US in the healthcare outsourcing space. The growing ability of Indian players to analyse big data, discover hidden patterns and unknown correlations are driving new service offerings in this market," Milan Sheth, partner and technology industry leader, EY India said.