NOWHERE IS INDIA’S EPITHET—pharmacy of the world—more apt than in the case of some big pharmaceutical companies. One such company is Aurobindo Pharma, which has steadily grown over the past 10 years to become the second-biggest Indian pharma company behind only Sun Pharma. Its consolidated revenues grew from ₹4,550.56 crore in FY12 to ₹23,366.55 crore in FY22. Ten years ago, it was placed sixth (see table ‘Coming from Behind’).
So, how did the Hyderabad-headquartered company reach such stratified air? Aurobindo has adopted a strategy of focussing on its forte of biosimilars (medicines that are highly similar to their branded reference medicines) along with gradually advancing in speciality pharmaceuticals (large, injectable, protein-based molecules, or small molecules used to treat complex conditions such as cancer and hepatitis C or common chronic diseases such
