To end reliance on China, Indian pharma firms go local for raw materials

Indian drug companies are looking to local makers of so-called active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) or trying to make them in-house in a bid to end their reliance on China as ties between the two countries soured after a deadly border clash last June.

Though India is known as the pharmacy of the world for its massive production capacities of both generic drugs and vaccines, China accounted for half of its API needs in 2019 from nearly nothing three decades ago, industry data shows.

Executives at India's Cadila Healthcare, Cipla, Sun Pharmaceutical and Biocon said on Tuesday they were aggressively working on reducing the dependence on the richer rival for raw materials.