India’s pharmaceutical industry stands at a turning point fueled by scale, reach, and affordability to rise as a beacon of global health innovation. With its extensive manufacturing infrastructure, India delivers vaccines and medicines at volumes and prices that make life-saving care accessible worldwide.  But the future lies in advancing beyond generics. Sharvil Patel highlights four key pillars to power this leap: streamlining digital and globally aligned regulation; accelerating R&D with support from public–private funding and schemes like the ₹5,000 crore Promotion of Research & Innovation Program; forging deeper industry academia collaborations inspired by models like the Bayh-Dole Act; and building enabling infrastructure such as biotech clusters, incubators, and IP-friendly policies.

India’s recent vaccine response spanning vector, protein, and mRNA platforms demonstrated that rapid, high-quality innovation is within reach. With smart policy, strong governance, and strategic investment, Indian pharma is poised to move up the value chain not just manufacturing, but creating world-class therapeutics for India and the world.