Pharma R&D spending grows as focus shifts to specialty products
Since such products cost far more to develop, investments are mostly made by top drug makers such as Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s and Lupin Indian pharmaceutical companies have increased research and development (R&D) investments in lucrative specialty drugs and complex generics, as greater competition and lower margins eat into their bread-and-butter generics business. Since such products cost far more to develop, investments are mostly made by top drug makers such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd and Lupin Ltd . R&D spending at all these companies has risen over the past three years. Benefits from a so-called patent cliff (when patents on many drugs expired, creating opportunities for Indian generic-drug firms in the US) petered out in 2014, while pricing pressure and compliance issues have risen since then, creating a sense of urgency. Consolidation in the distribution channel has added to pricing woes. “ Price erosion in single...