INDIA'S CDMO ASCENSION

We are ushering in 2024 with a good development for the Indian pharmaceutical sector.

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A news report states that drug makers are seeking to limit their reliance on Chinese contractors who produce drugs used in clinical trials and early-stage manufacturing. They are now shifting their focus from China to India, favouring Indian manufacturers over their Chinese counterparts.

This is a significantly positive move for Indian drugmakers since China has been the preferred destination for over two decades when it came to a range of pharmaceutical research and manufacturing services. Two main reasons that were in favour of China then were low cost and the rapid production capabilities of the Chinese contract drugmakers. However, this trade relationship started weakening with the US China trade conflict and subsequent disruptions in the trade since the pandemic. Finally, it appears to be culminating into the drugmakers shifting their focus from China to India.

This shift from China to India is particularly more important and significant at this juncture when the image of the Indian pharma sector is tarnished due to deaths of children abroad allegedly due to cough syrups produced by Indian pharma companies.