If indications, such as listing on the New York Stock Exchange, earning a major part of the revenue through international operations, and increasing research on new molecules, are anything to go by, Indian pharmaceutical companies seem to be on a roll. The industry was valued at US$6 bn in 2006, compared to US$2.3 mn in 1901. However, the question is: Can the industry sustain this growth?

On April 11, 2001, a short, be spectacled man stood waving from the balcony of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after his company became the first Indian—in fact, the first Asia-Pacific (non-Japanese) pharmaceutical company—to list on NYSE. It was an unforgettable day for 59-year old Kallam Anji Reddy. For, he had founded Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) in 1984 and worked hard enough to develop competencies for his company covering an entire pharmaceutical chain—basic research, finished dosages, generics (drugs marketed under their non-proprietary name rather than a brand name), bulk actives, biotechnology and diagnostics in less than 20 years.

The result—DRL, once ranked the second most successful company in pharma industry in India, just one rank behind Ranbaxy Laboratories that was founded in 1961, i.e., 23 years before DRL, came to be seen as a major competitor to Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories, popularly known as Cipla (established in 1935 and regarded as India's second largest drug maker by market share after Ranbaxy Laboratories). In fact, DRL had even surpassed Cipla—a company that was about 50 years older once (in 2003) in terms of annual turnover (Table 1).

The Analyst Magazine, Indian Pharma Players, New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, Indian pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories , DRL, Kallam Anji Reddy, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories, World Tread organisation, WTO, world pharmaceutical market, Research and Development , R&D, Mergers and Acquisitions, A&M, US Food and Drug Administration, Multinational corporations, MNCs.