In what can be good news for the pharma industry, Indian pharma exports to the US market are surging again this fiscal after a lull year registering a double digit growth.

Driven by the boost from the US, the total pharmaceuticals exports too increased 9.34 per cent at $25.04 billion in April - February of Financial year 2023-24 compared to $22.90 billion in the corresponding period of previous fiscal year.

“There has been a significant surge of 15.04 per cent in exports to the US at $7834 million in the April - February period of the current fiscal as against $7547 million in the same period last year,’‘ R Uday Bhaskar, Director - General, Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) told businessline.

The export growth to the US has more than doubled this year in the period under review as FY 23 registered only a 6.18% increase in exports to US at $7547 million in FY22, according to Pharmexcil data.

Strong rebuttal

The double-digit spurt in exports to the US this fiscal so far could augur well for the Indian pharma industry which has been facing challenges such as increasing pricing pressure as well as regulatory issues. The US market alone accounts for 30 per cent of overall exports for Indian drug-makers.

“In a way, the surge in exports to the US can also be seen as a strong rebuttal to a notion in some sections that the US importers were looking for alternatives to Indian drugs in key areas such as oncology.,’‘ the Pharmexcil DG said.

Further, the growth has come in the wake of tumultuous geopolitical situations including the Ukraine crisis and the Red Sea Crisis. The council data also shows export growth in all markets except the CIS region.

Going by current rate of growth, total pharma exports for the full year 2023-24 could close somewhere between $27.5 billion to $28 billion, as per Pharmexcil estimates.

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