Chronic Burden: Hypertension, Diabetes, Cholesterol Drugs Dominate 40% Of Indian Pharma Landscape

Drugs for hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol now account for 40% of India's pharmaceutical market, as chronic disease prescriptions outpace acute therapies for the fourth consecutive month of double-digit industry growth, reported Business Today citing IQVIA data compiled by Equirus Securities.

As per the report, India's pharmaceutical market grew 10.7% in March 2026, its fourth consecutive month of double-digit expansion. On a moving annual total basis, 12-month growth rose to 9.9%, the strongest in at least five quarters.

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Chronic therapies — medicines taken daily for conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol — now account for 40.4% of the Indian pharma market, up from 39% a year ago, growing 610 basis points faster than acute therapies, the report said. Cardiac, the market's largest segment at nearly 14% of total sales, grew 14.9% in March. Anti-diabetic therapies grew 14.2%.

Equirus analysts Bharat Celly and Vinay Jain called the numbers uniquely constructive. 

"The MAT March 2026 growth mix is the strongest blended MAT print in at least five quarters, and the composition is uniquely constructive — all three growth levers improved simultaneously," they told Business Today. 

The three levers — volume, price and new product introductions — improved together for the first time in the tracked period.

Semaglutide Goes Generic, Sparking a Pricing War

Within anti-diabetic therapies, competition is intensifying following the patent expiry of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Ozempic, report said. Seven of the top 10 anti-diabetic companies have launched branded generics. 

Torrent leads with Rs 35 million in March sales across its Semalix and Sembolic brands. Lupin's Semanext and USV's Usema have also entered the market.

The pricing gap is significant — prefilled pens at 1 mg are priced at around Rs 828 per dose, while oral tablets range between Rs 114 and Rs 194. Celly and Jain described the shift as the molecule "rapidly transitioning from a niche innovator play to a high-volume branded generic battleground across all delivery formats."

The disruption is already hitting incumbents. Abbott India's anti-diabetic segment declined 6.1% in March, its eighth consecutive month of contraction, even as the broader segment grew 14.2%. "This is not a mix problem inherited from the past; this is an active deterioration happening in real time," the analysts told Business Today.

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Among major players, Dr Reddy's posted 18.2% growth supported by price gains and new launches. "Dr Reddy's growth architecture remains distinctly premium-led," the analysts noted. Sun Pharma grew 12.5% despite a high base, while Cipla grew just 5.9% in March — its sharpest deceleration in a year — largely due to seasonal moderation in respiratory therapies.

At the bottom, anti-infectives grew just 2.3% in March, "the weakest among major segments," the analysts said.

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