India's pharma mkt to touch $20bn by 2015: Report

New Delhi, Sep 21: According to FICCI-Ernst & Young study, India's pharmaceutical market is expected to touch $20 billion by 2015 from $7.1 billion in 2007.

The report also said that the country will open a potential $8-billion market for multinational companies selling costly drugs, including patented products, by 2015.

"The patent infrastructure in the country has been appreciably upgraded over the past few years to support new laws with the addition of patent examiners, decentralization of the filing process and digitisation of records," report said.

The population in the highest income class is expected to grow to 25 million in 2015 from 10 million today, which will drive the affordability of high value patented drugs, it said.

"MNCs are increasingly restructuring their operations with global parents increasing their equity stakes in their Indian affiliates," it also said.

OneIndia News