Rising to the technological challenge: possibilities for integration of biotechnology in the Indian pharmaceutical industry

Presently, the Indian pharmaceutical industry ranks 12th in the world and its market is conservatively estimated to be $2.5 billion. Tracing the evolution of this industry, the paper first shows that Indian firms over the years had invested in gaining knowledge of the chemical technology of creating bulk drugs, and the top tier firms had greatly "learnt by doing", improving upon the process technology and bringing down their prices without investing in "formal R&D centers". These firms were then confronted with biotechnology, a set of techniques that was new and more complex to integrate. In this context the paper examines the variety of ways in which the Indian firms are strategically positioning themselves for the integration of biotechnology as dictated by their market objectives.

Keywords: India, pharmaceutical sector, strategic positioning, biotechnology, technology strategy