(from left) Winselow Tucker, President and GM, Eli Lilly India; Stefan Miltenyi, Founder & President, Miltenyi Biotec, Germany; GV prasad, Co-Chairman & MD, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories; Eric Mansion, GM, India & South-East Asia, Sanofi, Singapore, and Shreehas Tambe, MD & CEO, Biocon Biologics, during the ‘CEO Conclave – Future of Pharma & Biotech (’26-’30): Growth, Headwinds & Opportunities’, at BioAsia 2026, Hyderabad, on Tuesday
| Photo Credit:
NAGARA GOPAL
To further harness global opportunity in pharma and life sciences, Indian industry needs to move up on the value chain to become a capability leader with focus on high-value products, according to industry captains.
The journey towards this end has just begun and may take a decade or more to achieve tangible results, said panelists of a discussion on the future of pharma and biotech over the next five years, during the CEO Conclave at the BioAsia 2026, here on Tuesday.
“India did become the generic pharma hub of the world, while value lies in innovation and volume lies in generics. There may not be any significant shift in product portfolio in the next five years, but growth can now be seen in biologicals and services,’’ said GV Prasad, Co-Chairman, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
However, an ecosystem for impactful R&D in value based products is underway with many global majors setting up global capability centres (GCCs) in India, which could boost innovation, Prasad said.
Echoing Prasad, Shreehas Tambe, MD & CEO, Biocon Biologics, said that Indian generics industry did make the country proud. “We have done well in cost arbitrage and reverse innovation, with high volume of exports and low value. It’s time to move up on the value chain by innovation,’’ he said.
India needs to build capability leadership along with capacity leadership, which it already enjoys. Five years from now would be “too soon” to witness big shifts in the industry, he said, adding, “But we could see new beginnings.’’
Key requirements for the next phase of growth are: Differential pricing, innovation, a technology-enabled ecosystem with robust application of Augmented Intelligence would be vital going forward, according o Winselow Tucker, President and GM, Eli Lilly and Company (India).
From a regulatory point of view, a different policy shift was also needed with provisions to reward breakthrough innovation, he said.
Capex
Is investing in innovation and drug discovery a big challenge for Indian companies? For GV Prasad, while higher expenditure on R&D in new molecules is always “lovable”, there is also a need to show return on investment to the investors as it would cut down margins and profit before tax. “We can still spend more on R&D, but it will not be adequate,’’ Prasad said. However, there were ways to fund higher R&D through collaborations and other models, he added.
“There is no valuation to the product pipeline in India and investors, including venture capitalists, would want to see profit visibility,’’ Prasad said.
Even though there are risks, Biocon had an innovation-led culture, according to Tambe. “We took bets which are not conventional,’’ he said, adding the outcome of R&D investments would decide the investor perception.
Published on February 17, 2026
