The number of overseas acquisitions by Indian drug companies has been steadily rising and is expected to continue growing as they scale up their ambitions, driven by a desire to move up the value chain and away from generics.
However, compared to big-ticket global biotech deals, Indian pharma, with some exceptions, is likely to pursue more targeted and smaller-ticket acquisitions, experts said.
In the past few months, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Zydus Lifesciences are said to have been evaluating biotech assets in the US. Sun Pharma is reportedly nearing a $12 billion acquisition of Jersey City-based women’s healthcare company Organon & Co, while Zydus Lifesciences was exploring the purchase of Ardelyx Inc for $2.2-2.5 billion.
While these could be among the largest outbound deals for Indian pharma companies, they follow a year marked by a slew of mid-sized deals.
In December 2024, Intas Pharmaceuticals bought the Udenyca franchise from Coherus BioSciences for $558.4 billion. In July 2025, Natco Pharma announced the acquisition of a 35.75% stake in South Africa’s Adcock Ingram Holdings for about $226 million.
In October, Lupin said it acquired VISUfarma B.V. in the Netherlands from GHO Capital Partners for €190 million. Aurobindo Pharma was in the running for Prague-based generic drugmaker Zentiva from Advent International for $5-5.5 billion, which was sold to private equity firm GTCR.
"In terms of outbound deals in pharma, with the top 10-15 players, certainly we are seeing an increase in appetite,” said Subhakanta Bal, managing director and head of healthcare and consumer (India) at Rothschild & Co. “You could say that it is an evolution for the Indian pharma sector, where larger companies are increasingly looking at doing outbound deals.”
"The first wave of outbound M&As were for generic capabilities. But we are now seeing companies looking to acquire innovative companies and high-end specialist segments," said Nitin Lath, managing director— Corporate Finance, Alvarez & Marsal India.
Lath expects outbound M&As in the Pharma sector worth $20 billion being stitched over the next 4-5 years.
What’s driving them
Global uncertainties over the past two years, including US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, price erosion in the generics market, and a Big Pharma shift towards biologics are prompting Indian drugmakers to seek new avenues of growth. Innovation and new technologies are the key drivers of this increase in activity.
“Essentially, there is a strong impetus to move up the value chain,” said Bal.
"The appetite for outbound activity will grow across both technology— be it on the complex or specialty side—and across new molecules,” Anshul Gupta, managing director and head of healthcare investment banking at Avendus Capital, told Mint. “So far, Indian companies have been more conservative compared to Big Pharma, which has been taking large bets such as buying a phase 3 company for billions of dollars. But this is likely to shift over time.”
Apart from this, companies will also look at expanding into newer, attractive geographies such as emerging Latin American markets and South Africa to increase their presence outside India.
“In certain segments or categories, it makes sense. For instance, it is easier economically speaking to justify having local manufacturing in higher value products/segments, let's say in Europe or in the US, because the margin profile is quite attractive even after factoring in relatively higher people costs versus India,” said Bal.
“Companies buying in the US will go for market access by buying licenses or products,” Bhanu Prakash Kalmath SJ, partner and healthcare industry leader at Grant Thornton Bharat, told Mint.
Where will companies buy?
Indian companies are eyeing varied markets as they move away from the generics market in the US, which has long been their mainstay and goldmine. Licensing deals with China are also likely to increase.
“The next wave of innovation and drugs, especially on the biotech side, is likely to come from China more than the US over the coming decade. A lot of companies are already building that in-licensing in the short term,” Gupta of Avendus pointed out.
While data on outbound deals over the past four years shows a steady increase, ticket sizes have remained small with the exception of Biocon’s $3.3 billion Viatris acquisition in 2022. This is likely to continue.
“Unlike the large, transformative deals we’ve seen globally, Indian pharma is more likely to pursue targeted, capability-led acquisitions rather than scale-at-any-cost transactions,” Salil Kallianpur, an independent pharma analyst and ex-industry executive said.
“Underlining all of this, the healthy balance sheet for most Indian pharma majors is acting as an enabling factor. Balance sheets are significantly underleveraged, so you are in a good position to execute M&A and then benefit from some multiple arbitrage – some of the overseas assets are available at lower multiples relative to Indian listed market valuations,” said Bal of Rothschild.
However, experts pointed out that execution will decide how successful companies are in acquisitions. Indian investors have been wary of big-ticket outbound deals, best evidenced by the battering of Biocon’s stock price after its Viatris deal in 2022.
However, the shares have recovered, with the company strengthening its balance sheet significantly earlier this year after integrating its biologics subsidiary.
