Indian pharma market grows 7.2% in May led by chronic therapies

Indian pharma market grew 7.2% in May with strong performance in chronic therapies such as cardiac and anti-infectives, along with gains from price hikes and new launches

The Indian Pharma Market (IPM) grew 7.2 per cent in May this year with almost all major therapies showing positive growth, according to market research firm Pharmarack.

 

Data suggest that big chronic therapies such as cardiac and anti-infectives, which account for nearly 25 per cent of the overall domestic market, recorded value growth of 11.7 per cent and 7.6 per cent, respectively.

 

On the other hand, several smaller supergroups such as urology and antineoplastics, which made up 2 per cent each of the IPM’s sales value for the month, also recorded double-digit growth in May at 12.3 per cent and 11.7 per cent, said Sheetal Sapale, vice-president, commercial, Pharmarack.

 

Data suggest that the overall value growth for the IPM in May was driven by price growth and new introductions. The IPM also reported a minuscule 0.4 per cent unit growth during the month, with the chronic segments such as antidiabetics (6.1 per cent) and cardiac (4.8 per cent) performing better than the overall market figure.

 

 

Experts believe that the antidiabetic segment saw a 6.1 per cent rise in volume in May due to a key drug, empagliflozin, going off-patent, as companies launched several plain and combination medications in the segment.

 

Growth in the moving annual turnover (MAT) for the IPM between June 2024 and May 2025 stood at 8.1 per cent, leading to a total turnover of over Rs 2.29 trillion, while volumes in the domestic market grew by 1.1 per cent.

 

The MAT of leading therapy areas such as cardiac, gastrointestinal and anti-infectives, which constitute around 38 per cent of the pharmaceutical market, showed robust volume growth at 10.4 per cent, 9.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively.

 

While the top 20 brands in the IPM registered modest monthly value growth in the domestic market during the month, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s posted significant monthly value growth at 11.2 per cent each.

 

They were followed by Torrent Pharma and Ipca Laboratories at 10.8 per cent, and Alkem Laboratories at 10.3 per cent monthly value growth.

 

According to Pharmarack data, GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) antibiotic medication Augmentin and USV’s anti-diabetic drug Glycomet GP continued to be the top-selling medicine brands at the MAT level, with sales worth Rs 819 crore and Rs 810 crore, respectively.