ABSTRACT
Indian multinational companies have gained a high profile in several industries. This chapter explores India's integration into the global economy from the vantage point of pharmaceuticals, one of its flagship industries. The global pharmaceutical industry is largely synonymous with around twenty-five multinational research-based or innovative companies and a smaller number of internationally oriented generics suppliers. It is well understood that independent India failed to construct an effective developmental state along East Asian lines. But the drug industry provides a partial exception. Recent productivity and other problems threatening big pharma's traditional blockbuster model have increased their reliance on the in-licensing of externally discovered molecules. Cipla is the one major company which has not fully embraced collaboration with the multinationals. The scale and sophistication of Indian drug companies has reached the point where these companies have an impact on global industry dynamics.
