India’s Pharma 2047: How academia can drive innovation and self-reliance

As India marches toward its 2047 vision of becoming an innovation-led, self-reliant pharmaceutical powerhouse, the role of academia becomes central and transformative. The nation’s remarkable rise in the Global Innovation Index—from the 80s to the 40s range in a decade—signals progress, but sustaining this momentum requires a strategic reset. Pharmacy institutions must become catalysts of discovery, translational research, and highvalue skill development. The future demands not just graduates, but innovators and leaders capable of shaping global healthcare.

To drive Pharma 2047, academia must evolve through strategic planning across curriculum, research capabilities, industry collaboration, and national alignment. The following pillars outline how various stakeholders—academia, industry, and government—can jointly accelerate India’s journey.

1. Redesigning academic curricula for a multidisciplinary, innovation-driven workforce

◆Stakeholder: Academic Institutions & Regulatory Bodies (PCI, University, HEIs)

nger operate in disciplinary silos. To meet the expectations of an innovation-centric pharma sector, institutions must build interdisciplinary learning pathways integrating:

• Pharmacology and systems biology 
• Pharmaceutics and biotechnology 
• AI, big data analytics, and computational modelling 
• Regulatory sciences and market access 
• Pharmacoeconomics and patient-centric design

Outcome-based education must replace content-heavy teaching. Students should graduate with the ability to connect molecular understanding to formulation design, regulatory intelligence to development strategy, and analytics to clinical decision-making. The curriculum must embed 21st-century competencies— critical thinking, communication, entrepreneurship, and ethics—ensuring India produces future-ready scientific leaders and not just degree holders. 

2. Building a strong research culture to enable discovery and translation 

◆ Stakeholder: Academic research centres, faculty, ANRF One of the biggest gaps in Indian academia is the limited pipeline of translational research—solutions that move from conceptual science to deployable products. Academic institutions must invest in:

• Advanced formulation, analytical, and bioprocessing laboratories 
• Preclinical modelling facilities 
• IP generation and technology transfer frameworks 
• Incubation centres for student-led deep-tech ventures

The launch of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) is a watershed opportunity. Pharmacy institutes must aggressively compete for multi-disciplinary, problemdriven national grants while aligning research towards national health priorities such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), chronic disease management, rare diseases, biosimilars, precision medicine and advanced therapeutics.

To achieve this, faculty development becomes critical—upskilling in frontier technologies like CRISPR, biologics development, automation, green chemistry, and AI-assisted discovery.

3. Making academia–industry collaboration outcome-oriented and accountable

◆ Stakeholder: Pharma and MedTech industry, academic institutions, sector skill councils For India to move from volume to value in exports, academia–industry collaboration must shift from ceremonial MoUs to co-owned, co-delivered, and coevaluated models. Strategic actions include:

• Establishing collaborative research centres for biologics, advanced drug delivery systems, novel excipients, AI-enabled manufacturing, and sustainability solutions 
• Co-developing micro-credentials in regulatory compliance, quality systems, clinical operations, supply chain, and digital manufacturing 
• Embedding mandatory internships and apprenticeships 
• Creating shared research platforms to solve industry-defined problems 
• Encouraging contract research and CDMO-linked academia innovation

Structured collaboration will ensure students become jobready from Day 1 while also generating prototypes, patents, and scalable solutions for industry.

4. Aligning academia with India’s Pharma 2047 priorities and the QuRATE framework

◆ Stakeholder: Government, industry bodies (Pharmexcil, IDMA), academia

The national vision for Pharma 2047 is guided by the QuRATE pillars—quality, regulation, access to global market, talent, and entrepreneurial innovation. Academia must play a complementary role in enabling these.

Key priorities aligned to national goals

• Quality and regulation: Train students in QbD, cGMP, data integrity, and international regulatory pathways. 
• Access: Promote innovations that are affordable, scalable, and patient-centric. 
• Talent: Build a scientifically and ethically strong research workforce. 
• Entrepreneurship: Support student startups through incubators and innovation funds. 
• Supply chain resilience: Encourage research on indigenous APIs, green chemistry, and sustainable manufacturing.

Institutions should embed case studies on global compliance, recalls, and quality failures to inculcate scientific integrity and accountability.

5. Leveraging NEP 2020 for a new academic paradigm 

◆ Stakeholder: Government, PCI, higher education institutions, students, university

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 provides a powerful blueprint for reimagining pharmaceutical education. 

• Academic opportunities under NEP 2020: 
• Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs) as national models 
• Four-year degrees with research tracks 
• Multiple entry and exit options supporting workforce flexibility 
• Vocational and skill development integration 
• Innovation councils, incubation centres, and industry-designed credit courses 
• International and national collaborative research frameworks (SPARC, GIAN)

These reforms will allow pharmacy graduates to become globally competitive while deeply rooted in India’s healthcare priorities. 

6. Creating India’s future research leaders and thought architects by 2047 

◆ Stakeholder: Academia, research agencies, industry mentors

For India to lead in biosimilars, vaccines, medtech, novel therapeutics, and AI-driven healthcare, academia must focus on developing:

• Young innovators through specialised talent tracks 
• Industry–academia doctoral and postdoctoral pathways 
• Leaders trained in global quality systems, ethics, and compliance 
• Professionals who combine innovation with responsibility

By 2047, India must possess a research ecosystem where ideas mature into technologies, students become innovators, and academic research generates global impact.

Academia as the strongest pillar of India’s pharma future

India’s aspirations for 2047 are ambitious and achievable. The transformation of academia— from knowledge dissemination to innovation leadership—will determine whether India merely catches up or truly leads. Pharmacy institutions must deliver the curriculum redesigned by PCI effectively, to strengthen research, to forge purposeful industry partnerships, and to align with national strategic frameworks.

If academia embraces this responsibility with imagination, rigour, and collaboration, India will not only achieve self-reliance but emerge as a global leader in affordable, high-quality, accessible healthcare innovation. The story of Pharma 2047 will indeed be written in our classrooms, laboratories, and incubation spaces.