Structural gaps in areas including clinical execution and funding limit India’s ability to scale up innovation, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group and HealthKois.
In India, the challenge is no longer whether the country’s life sciences sector can innovate but whether it can do so at scale, according to a new report.
Over the past decade, India has seen multiple milestones, according to the joint report from Boston Consulting Group and HealthKois, an India-focused healthcare innovation and impact fund. Patent filings have jumped by more than four times since 2016, while innovation pipeline assets grew by a factor of 1.5, biotech startups increased by a factor of 1.6 and private capital directed toward healthcare innovation rose sharply.
However, the report added, India’s innovation story remains “early and uneven,” with most of the momentum concentrated in late-stage translation as gaps persist in early-stage research, clinical execution, regulatory consistency and access to early-stage capital.
Still, the conversation around Indian healthcare innovation is changing, noted one of the report’s authors in a press release.
“We are seeing India-origin science licensed by global pharma majors, and indigenous CAR-T therapies treating patients at a fraction of the global cost,” said Charles Janssen, co-founder and managing partner at HealthKois. “Capital that understands the science and is willing to back it through the early, uncertain years will be the difference between a handful of breakout successes and a durable innovation engine.”
Over the past decade, according to the report, 11 novel drug assets have originated from India, including first-in-class new chemical entities, indigenous CAR T therapies and artificial intelligence–discovered molecules. Those drugs include Zaynich, Indian company Wockhardt’s intravenous antibiotic that received FDA approval last month for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections.
Other positive milestones, according to the report, include private equity/venture capital investment growing 2.1 times during the past five years to $731 million in fiscal year 2026. Notable research and development (R&D) deals include Pandorum Technologies raising $18 million in series B funding in February. The company will use the funds to advance clinical development of its exosome-based therapies as well as to scale global manufacturing and expand operations across the U.S., Japan and the Middle East.
Structural gaps limiting India’s ability to scale up innovation, the report noted, include:
- Frequently diffused and insufficient public funding, with maximum grant sizes around $52,000 compared to $2 million to $3 million in the United States and European Union.
- A low-risk appetite among Indian venture capital firms for biotech investments.
- Clinical trial approval times of around 90 days, versus about 30 days in the United States.
- A lack of high-quality local suppliers for research-grade raw materials and reagents, particularly for advanced modalities such as gene therapy. This leads to heavy reliance on imports and 30- to 45-day lead times.
Key innovations that could shape the next decade of India’s life sciences sector and innovation, according to the report, include:
- Building India’s first generation of specialist biotech capital
- Encouraging academia-industry partnerships and collaboration
- Creating fast-track regulatory pathways for novel therapies
- Building a domestic supply chain and enabling market access
- Bridging the talent quality gap in R&D and innovation
Regarding that last initiative, the report noted that high-quality talent is critical to becoming an innovation powerhouse.
