Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Ex-ecutive Chairperson, Biocon Ltd, has flagged structural gaps in India’s biotech eco-system, warning that weak venture funding, regulatory bottlenecks, and the absence of viable exit avenues are pushing high-value innovation out of the country.
Speaking about the sec-tor’s evolution, Mazumdar-Shaw said India continues to face challenges in supporting clinical-stage innovation, a phase where companies are typically pre-revenue but re-quire sustained capital. The long development cycle from lab to market, she noted, makes it harder to attract in-vectors without well-defined pathways for exits.
She pointed to the need for deeper venture capital participation, more enabling listing frameworks, and reg-olitory clarity to support in-novation at scale.
In more mature markets such as the US, clinical-stage biotech firms are able to ac-cuss capital markets earlier, creating liquidity for in-vectors and supporting long-term research.
China, too, has emerged as a significant pharmaceutical innovator, accounting for roughly 20-25 per cent of new drug research and development and about 46 per cent of novel molecules entering human trials in early 2025, according to a Gold-man Sachs report, supported by strong state backing and faster clinical execution.
INDIA AT RISK
The consequence, she said, is a steady migration of innovation. Citing examples, Shaw highlighted how India-de-highlighted eloped science is increasingly being commercialized overseas to tap better fund-ing ecosystems and market recognition. However, Shaw said individual company success cannot substitute for systemic reform. Without regulatory changes that en-able risk capital, streamline regulatory pathways, and create credible exit machan-isms, India risks missing out on building a globally com-putative biotech innovation engine.
“If we create the right eco-system, innovation itself can become an enormous value driver for India,” she said, underlining that the country has no shortage of scientific capability, only enabling environment to fully realize it.
Source : Thehindubusinessline
