By Rishika Sadam
HYDERABAD (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he intends to impose a “25% or higher” levies on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports, and raise it substantially over the course of a year, a move likely to hit India’s sprawling pharmaceutical industry.
Most Indian generic drugmakers count the U.S. as their largest market, with exports reaching $8.7 billion in fiscal 2024, or about 31% of the industry’s overall exports, according to the government-backed trade body Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil).
India’s drugmakers export generic drugs to the U.S., offering a cost-effective alternate to expensive innovative drugs.
Nearly half of all generic prescriptions filled in the U.S. in 2022 were supplied by Indian drugmakers and generated $408 billion in savings for the U.S. healthcare system for the year, according to research firm IQVIA.
Following are India’s major drugmakers relying heavily on the U.S. market.
SUN PHARMACEUTICAL
India’s largest drugmaker had 32% of its total revenue come from the U.S. market in fiscal 2024. Sun’s MD Dilip Shanghvi told local media earlier this week that the extra tariffs, if imposed, will be passed on to consumers.
It exports to 100 countries and overseas sales accounted to 72.7% of the company’s total revenue in the year.
DR REDDY’S LABORATORIES
North America is the largest market for the company, contributing 47% of its total sales in fiscal 2024.
The company relies on its key generic drugs in oncology and immunology therapies for sales in the region, which rose 28% from a year earlier.
Reddy’s, like other Indian drugmakers, is banking on yet to be launched generic weight-loss drugs for growth over the next few years in the U.S.
CIPLA
India’s third-largest drugmaker by revenue generated 30% of its total revenue from North America in fiscal 2024, its second-biggest market.
The company is among the top 15 players in the U.S. providing prescription drugs and supplies generic respiratory and oncology medicines.
BIOCON
It earned 44% of its total revenue from the U.S., its largest market for the year ended March 2024, primarily driven by demand for its biosimilars which are copies of complex biologics drugs used to treat illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.
In 2022, Indian companies supplied 15% of the volume of biosimilars in the U.S., according to IQVIA.
LUPIN
Sales in North America contributed to 37% of overall fiscal 2024 sales, up 30% from the previous year thanks to solid demand for the company’s respiratory, antiretroviral generic drugs.
GLENMARK PHARMA
The company generated 26% of its total revenue from North America, its second-biggest market, in fiscal 2024. The company is focusing on expanding its respiratory drug portfolio offerings.
ZYDUS
U.S. is the largest market for the company, generating 46% of its total revenue in 2024. The company distributes over 200 generic products in the market.
(Reporting by Rishika Sadam; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Sriraj Kalluvila)
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