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. 2017 Jun 1;12(11):786–818. doi: 10.1002/cmdc.201700043

Table 1.

Drug discovery activities at major Indian pharmaceutical companies 1994–2016.

Entry Company Year drug discovery initiated Year company established Rank[a] Estimated drug discovery or R&D headcount (year) Total pipeline compounds[b] Status 2016
1 Dr. Reddy's Laboratories 1994 1984 2 320 in NCE R&D (2005) 27 Exited drug discovery in 2009
2 Ranbaxy (now part of Sun Pharma) 1995 1961 (−)[c] 280 in “New Drug Discovery Research”; 1400 in R&D (2008) 16 Exited drug discovery in 2008 after acquisition by Daiichi‐Sankyo
3 Torrent Pharmaceuticals 1997 1972 9 130 in NCE discovery research (2008–14) 6 Active NCE R&D, three compounds in pipeline
4 Wockhardt Ltd. 1997 1967 13 850 in R&D (2015) 15 Active NCE R&D, five compounds in pipeline
5 Piramal Life Sciences 1998 1988 17 360 in NCE R&D (2011) 16 Exited drug discovery in 2014
6 Dabur Research Foundation (now Fresenius‐Kabi Oncology) 1998 1886 (−)[d] 20 in oncology drug discovery (2001) 0 Exited drug discovery in 2010 after acquisition by Fresenius‐Kabi
7 Sun Pharma 1999 1993 1 275 at SPARC R&D (2015) 8 Active NCE R&D, three compounds in pipeline
8 Alembic Ltd. 1999 1907 20 NA 0 Collaboration with NCL (1999‐2003); investment in Incozen Therapeutics and Rhizen Pharmaceuticals (2008)
9 Zydus Cadila (Cadila Healthcare) 2000 1995 6 250 in NCE R&D (2016) 15 Active NCE R&D, one compound launched (2013), four compounds in pipeline
10 Cadila Pharmaceuticals 2000 1995 34 NA 0 Develops mainly combination preparations; drug discovery collaboration with IIIM
11 FDC Ltd. 2000 1940 42 NA 1 Patent filings (2002–13) with National Chemical Laboratory (Pune), no internal drug discovery
12 JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals 2000 1976 37 NA 1 Exited drug discovery in 2006
13 Cipla 2000 1935 5 NA 0 Patent filings (2000–01) with University of Mumbai, no internal drug discovery
14 Glenmark Pharmaceuticals 2001 1977 8 300 NCE R&D (2015) 19 Active NCE R&D, four compounds licensed (all failed), one under option agreement (ongoing), one additionalcompound in pipeline
15 Lupin Ltd. 2001 1972 3 ∼130 in NCE drug discovery, 320 in R&D (2015) 7 Active NCE R&D, four compounds in pipeline
16 Reliance Life Sciences 2001 2001 58 NA 2 Exited NCE R&D in 2010
17 Orchid Pharma 2002 1992 47 130 in drug discovery (2013) 5 Halted drug discovery in 2014; one compound licensed to Allecra (2013), development ongoing
18 Suven Life Sciences 2003 1989 59 120 in NCE R&D, out of 386 in R&D (2016) 15 Active NCE R&D, eleven compounds in pipeline
19 Natco Pharma 2004 1981 38 15 in oncology drug discovery (2014) 3 Active NCE R&D, two compounds in pipeline
20 Panacea Biotech 2005 1984 51 110 in drug discovery (2013) 4 Halted internal drug discovery in 2014; two compounds in pipeline
21 Matrix Laboratories (now Mylan) 2005 2000 (−)[e] 18 in drug discovery (2006) 2 Exited drug discovery after acquisition by Mylan (2006)
22 Hetero Drugs 2006 1993 7 NA 2 NCE drug discovery mainly targeting HIV, also HCV, diabetes and cancer
23 Jubilant Life Sciences 2007 1978 11 NA 3 Active NCE R&D, three compounds in pipeline (one licensed in 2016)
24 Elder Pharmaceuticals 2008 1989 44 NA 0 Patents filed with Poona College of Pharmacy (2008), no internal drug discovery
25 IPCA Laboratories 2009 1949 22 NA 0 Claimed two compounds in pipeline (2012), but no development reported
26 Mankind Pharma 2011 1995 15 NA 0 No published NCE patent applications
27 Alkem Laboratories 2013 1973 12 20 in drug discovery (2014) 1 Exited drug discovery prior to going public in 2015
28 Emcure 2014 1981 26 NA 0 One published NCE patent application
Total: 168

[a] Ranking by 2016 revenue or latest available figure (Supporting Information Table 5). [b] Status mid‐2016. [c] Ranked #1 in acquisition year 2008. [d] Ranked #37 in acquisition year 2008. [e] Ranked among top‐10 in acquisition year 2006.