Viren Shetty, Executive Vice Chairman, Narayana Health
Viren Shetty, Executive Vice Chairman of Narayana Health, emphasized that drugs alone cannot transform outcomes—India needs integration between hospitals, insurers, and pharma to ensure innovation reaches patients at scale.
His view reflects the larger challenge, which showcases that India has the scientific talent and patient pool, but lacks the ecosystem that powers discovery and commercialization in Cambridge or China at Scale-Up Health 2025, organized by Eight Roads Ventures.
India’s patient base is immense—over 100 million living with diabetes, 220 million with hypertension, and 1.4 million new cancer diagnoses every year. These numbers are comparable to China, yet India has not translated this demand into breakthrough therapies. Late diagnosis, fragmented access, and weak innovation pipelines have limited progress. Unlocking this patient pool requires moving beyond generics into truly novel, disease-modifying treatments.
A common perception is that patents prevent India from producing blockbuster drugs. In reality, patent disputes are minimal. The real challenge lies in affordability and access models.
Take the example of Keytruda, MSD’s immuno-oncology therapy. Launched at global prices, it was initially unaffordable for most Indian patients. Through income-linked access programs and rapid registration of multiple indications, the therapy expanded from 1,500 patients in 2017 to nearly 20,000 patients today, scaling revenues to over $220 million. The lesson is clear: affordability and innovative financing are more decisive than patent barriers.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a population of just 150,000, hosts over 1,000 startups, 25,000 PhDs, world-class hospitals, and hundreds of venture capital firms backing biotech innovation. In China, thousands of scientists have returned home, supported by government incentives, building a $120+ billion pharma market powered by local biotechs and large-scale clinical trials.
In contrast, India lacks clusters where academia, startups, investors, and pharma majors collaborate seamlessly. Without such ecosystems, drug discovery remains fragmented and underfunded.
For India to move closer to this milestone, several steps are critical:
Stronger academia–industry partnerships to accelerate translational research.
Incentives to attract returning scientists, enabling them to build careers in India.
Expansion of risk capital, with more funds investing in early-stage biopharma ventures.
Multi-stakeholder access models, where insurers, NBFCs, pharma companies, and government programs like Ayushman Bharat work together.
Measuring success by patient reach, not just revenue, ensuring therapies are designed for scalability.
India’s journey to its first billion-dollar drug is not a matter of if but when. The path will depend on building a vibrant ecosystem akin to Cambridge or China that integrates research, capital, healthcare delivery, and patient access. With the right collaboration, India can not only serve millions of its own patients but also emerge as a global hub for innovative drug discovery.
, CDSCO.jpg "Fostering a Quality Culture in the Pharmaceutical Industry")