Indian pharma exports to USA down nearly 40% in last months

India's pharmaceutical industry has been more impacted by the downturn in the US economy than any other sector, according to a report from the  Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, reported by the  UK's Financial Times. This noted that the nation's exports of medicines  to the USA plunged almost 40% in the five-month period to February.

Part of the decline is attributed to the Food and Drug Administration  barring products from Indian drug major Ranbaxy from entering the  country (Marketletters passim), but the FICCI study suggests that Indian  drugmakers are losing relative share in the USA to emerging markets,  eg, China, Israel and South Korea. Department of Pharmaceuticals figures  show that India's total drug exports for the 2007/8 fiscal year rose 22%  to $6.0 billion compared with the prior 12 months.