The Indian Pharmaceutical Market (IPM) registered an 8.1 per cent year-on-year growth in August 2025. This comes after a 7.1 per cent growth in July and aligns closely with the overall 8 per cent growth seen in FY25. Citing data by IQVIA, HDFC Securities Pharmaceuticals report noted that unit sales slipped by 0.8 per cent during the month.
The steady momentum was largely supported by chronic therapies, including cardiac, anti-diabetic, and central nervous system (CNS) drugs, alongside strong gains in respiratory and oncology. Acute therapies, including anti-infectives and gastrointestinal drugs, however, grew at a slower pace than the overall market.
For August 2025, chronic therapies expanded 12 per cent, while acute segments saw a 6 per cent rise. Cardiac drugs recorded an 11 per cent growth, the same rate seen in anti-diabetic medicines, boosted by strong demand for GLP-1 molecules. CNS therapies increased 8 per cent. On the acute side, anti-infectives improved 6 per cent, gastrointestinal medicines grew 2 per cent, and vitamins, minerals and nutrients (VMN) rose 7 per cent.
Other therapies posted stronger gains, with respiratory medicines up 19 per cent and oncology showing a 23 per cent increase. Pain management products saw a 6 per cent rise. A notable highlight was the rapid traction in GLP-1 therapies, which registered a 97 per cent month-on-month rise in sales. This segment played a key role in driving the anti-diabetic growth trend.
Looking ahead, the HDFC Securities report estimated that IPM growth for FY26 would remain in the range of 8-9 per cent. The forecast is based on faster expansion in chronic segments, recovery in acute therapies, and the addition of new product launches.
As per a separate government release, India’s pharmaceutical industry is a global powerhouse, ranking 3rd in the world by volume and 14th in terms of value of production, supplying over 50 per cent of global vaccine demand and nearly 40 per cent of generics to the US. The industry is projected to grow to USD 130 billion by 2030 and a USD 450 billion market by 2047.
“The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is driving investments into 55 projects to make high-end drugs such as cancer and diabetes medicines in India, while the Strengthening of Pharmaceuticals Industry (SPI) scheme that focuses on raising the quality, competitiveness, and resilience of smaller pharma companies, is funding R&D and modernizing labs, enabling Indian companies to compete globally,” the release said.
