Indian pharma companies under pressure on bourses, MNC peers fare better

Given the India focus, they will benefit more from domestic market growth, compared with Indian companies, which are currently facing pressure in their US businesses

At a time when Indian pharmaceutical companies are under pressure on stock exchanges, many of their multinational (MNC) peers are performing much better. Abbott India, for instance, scaled to its 52-week high last week, while Pfizer did so in the latter half of November. Even for others like Sanofi India, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma (GSK) and Merck, analysts expect better days ahead.

The confidence stems from the expectation of domestic pharma market growth rebounding to healthy double digits in the second half of FY18, as the impact of disruptions caused by the goods and services tax (GST)-related trade adjustments and demonetisation are