More pain ahead for drug makers in FY19 after a challenging FY18

Higher number of approvals from April 2018, repeated regulatory issues and lower profits from niche opportunities are some of the concerns

If FY18 was a forgettable year for the pharma sector, FY19 might not be any better. This is on account of improved pace of approvals from April 1, 2018 as well as competition even for drugs, which are difficult to make. New guidelines from the US Food and Drug Administration had led to the slowing down in drug approvals over the last couple of months as companies took time to adjust. However, as companies comply with the new guidelines, the approval time for drugs from April is expected to come down further increasing competitive pressures. Anubhav Aggarwal and Chunky Shah