India’s pharmaceutical market is showing signs of good health in 2026, after a relatively weak calendar year 2024 and 2025. In July 2026, sales jumped 12.1% year on year, with this double-digit growth coming on the back of price increases, new product launches and a recovery in patient volumes, according to brokerage firm Nomura.
Product price increases contributed about 6% to growth in July, while new product launches added 3.7% and volumes contributed 2.3%. In fact, price increases accounted for around half of the industry’s year-on-year growth in July. Nomura’s report states that almost every drugmaker beat the broader market average. Here is a detailed look at what companies and products are driving growth.
Sun Pharma, Zydus lead growth in pharma
Among the companies that Nomura tracks, at the top of the leaderboard Zydus Lifesciences and Sun Pharmaceutical recorded the strongest year-on-year growth in July. Sun Pharma’s sales grew 17.8%, while Zydus recorded 20.8% growth. Cipla grew 17.3%, Torrent Pharma 16.1% and Lupin 13.8%.
Nomura said all companies in its coverage universe grew ahead of the overall market, except IPCA. IPCA’s pain and cardiology businesses grew strongly, but weakness in anti-malarial and anti-infective therapies weighed on its overall performance.
On a moving annual total (MAT) basis for July, Torrent Pharma recorded the highest growth at 14.4%, followed by Glenmark and Zydus at 14.2% each.
Chronic therapies drive pharma growth
Nomura says that the recovery in the Indian pharmaceutical market in 2026 comes from a low volume base, higher contribution from new launches and stronger growth in chronic therapies.
“The recovery in growth rate is driven by the low volume in the base, a pick-up in new launch contributions like GLP-1 (~80bps) and a pick-up in chronic therapies such as cardiac, neuro and strong growth in vitamin, mineral and nutritional supplements (VMNs) and oncology,” Nomura noted.
Among major therapies, anti-diabetes treatment recorded the fastest growth in July, with GLP-1 medicines contributing around 48% of the segment’s growth. Cardiac, respiratory, pain, neuro and gynaecology therapies also recorded double-digit growth. In contrast, gastro, anti-infectives and derma grew at a slower pace because of weak volume growth.
GLP-1 market expands sharply
The GLP-1 agonist market has emerged as a major growth driver for Indian pharma companies. On a MATl basis for July 2026, the market stood at Rs 2,213 crore, compared with Rs 661 crore a year earlier.
Tirzepatide accounted for 63% of the market, while Semaglutide held a 32% share. MAT July sales stood at Rs 1,398 crore for Tirzepatide and Rs 717 crore for Semaglutide.
Sun Pharma overtakes Torrent in Semaglutide
Sun Pharma emerged as the market leader in the generic Semaglutide pre-filled device segment in July, overtaking Torrent Pharma.
Sun’s market share increased to 21% in July from 18% in June, while Torrent’s share fell to 17% from 23%. Alkem Laboratories had a 13% share, followed by Intas and Eris at 10% each.
Nomura attributed Sun’s gain partly to a product recall notification issued by its supplier, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
Zydus remained the leader in the cartridge segment, with a 39% market share in July. Torrent held 29% and Lupin 27%.
In the oral Semaglutide segment, Torrent continued to dominate with a 90% market share. Dr Reddy’s share increased to 10% in July from 7% in June.
Zydus leads generic Semaglutide manufacturing
Zydus also held the largest share when measured by manufacturers, with 26% of the generic semaglutide market. Dr Reddy’s followed with a 20% share.
Sun Pharma’s manufacturer share increased to 15% in July, while Natco and Alkem held 12% and 11%, respectively.
Nomura estimated that around 2.9 lakh patients were using generic Semaglutide in July, up 16% from the previous month. Around 80% of patients were using injectable formulations, while the remaining 20% were using oral formulations.
The report noted that the use of oral Semaglutide is significantly higher in India than in the US, where it accounts for less than 10% of usage.
Trade generics remain a structural risk
Despite the strong recovery, Nomura flagged trade generics and private-label medicines as a structural threat to the Indian pharmaceutical market.
The brokerage expects large Indian pharma companies to increasingly rely on new product launches, including in-licensed innovative medicines, to differentiate themselves. It also expects larger companies to continue gaining market share from smaller players.
Nomura maintains ‘Buy’ calls
As the July data points to a broad-based recovery in the Indian pharma market with chronic therapies and GLP-1 drugs driving growth, Nomura is reiterating its “Buy” call on key pharma stocks.
Nomura rates Alkem Laboratories as “Buy” with a target price of Rs 6,890. For Dr Reddy’s Laboratories it has a target price of Rs 1,740. And on Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Nomura has set a target price of Rs 2,400.
The strong performance of Sun Pharma and Zydus also highlight the growing importance of new launches and the rapidly expanding generic GLP-1 opportunity in the Indian pharmaceutical market.