India has earned global recognition for making affordable medicines available at scale. But the big question now is: can India move into highvalue areas like biologics, complex medicines, and innovation without losing its volume advantage? This was the theme of the third panel at the Bengaluru Pharma Summit, organised by Express Pharma. The panel discussion, featuring industry leaders and experts, was moderated by Himanshu Saxena, Head – Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Operations, Syngene International, and included Dr Sanjib Banerjee, Chief Operating Officer (Biopharma), Veeda Lifesciences; Saroj Kumar Jena, Quality Head, VJ Biosciences; Mohan Pandey, Head – Global Program Office and Operational Excellence, Syngene International; Siddalingaswamy CA, Vice President – Operations & Plant Head, Zuventus Healthcare; Dr Manoj Kumar Singh, Senior Vice President – Analytical Development, Micro Labs; and Prof. Somnath Dutta, Associate Professor – Molecular Biophysics Unit, Division of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science.
The discussion began with a reminder that the future will demand value-driven growth through complex generics, biosimilars, specialty drugs, and innovation. The panelists stressed the importance of targeted R&D investments on unmet needs where India can leverage scale and scientific skills. They highlighted the role of stronger industry–academia collaboration to boost discovery and innovation.
The panel also underlined the need for trust and integrity. They emphasised that integrity is not optional. Quality and patient safety are the foundation of our industry. Return on integrity must match return on investment.
The experts also spoke about building digital fluency, process excellence and talent pipelines as key enablers of the value shift. The panelists stressed that new-age talent, with fresh perspectives and scientific depth, will drive innovation. They added that future leaders must balance profit with purpose and inspire teams to take on new challenges. From a technical lens, the panel highlighted that moving into complex generics and biosimilars will require deep analytical expertise and worldclass laboratories. Without this, India risks losing ground to global competitors.
The panel also discussed the strategy of expanding into new markets. This way, companies can continue to retain their scale advantage while also diversifying into higher-value products. The message was clear. Sustainable growth will come from combining volume and value, not choosing between them.
The panelists reminded the audience that India Pharma Inc must protect its strengths in scale while building new capabilities in value creation. India has the talent, capacity and ambition to climb higher in the pharma value chain. By balancing innovation with access, and profit with purpose, India can remain the pharmacy of the world while becoming a true hub for advanced therapies.