Domestic pharma grows 10.9% in May; diabetes and cardiac therapies lead demand

The latest figures show that the unit growth of the industry stood at 1.4%, suggesting that price increases have largely contributed to the May growth in comparison to the volume growth. The sector recorded healthy growth last month despite a relatively high base and, persistent pricing pressures.

Crucially, volume growth improved from near-zero levels in mid-FY26 to 1.9% in the February quarter and 1.3% in the latest quarter, suggesting a steady improvement in underlying demand. The price-led growth stood at 5.7% during the May quarter, while new product launches contributed 3.6 percentage points to the overall growth.

Chronic Therapies Dominate

As per Pharmarack, among the major therapy segments, anti-diabetic drugs emerged as one of the fastest-growing categories in May, registering 16.8% value growth. 

The cardiac segment, the largest therapy area with a 14.6% market share, expanded 13.9%, while respiratory therapies grew 12.3%. Vitamins, minerals and nutrients registered 12.5% growth, highlighting sustained demand for preventive health products.

Smaller segments such as anti-neoplastics, used in cancer treatment, rose 13.4%, while vaccines grew 17.6%.

Sun Pharma Holds Market Crown

With the pharma companies, Sun Pharma retained its top position with a market share of 8.4%, followed by Abbott and Cipla. Torrent Pharma and Intas were among the fastest-growing large companies, recording growth of 14.1% and 13.9%, respectively in May.

In terms of brands, Eli Lilly’s diabetes and obesity drug Mounjaro continued its remarkable rise. After becoming the top-selling drug (by value) in India in October 2025, the brand posted sales of Rs 1,095 crore and growth of nearly 2,300%. Besides Mounjaro, other leading brands included Augmentin, Glycomet GP, Foracort and Pan, the report noted.