India’s pharmaceutical market clocked a robust 10.7 per cent value growth in August 2026, despite recording its lowest volume growth in the last three months.
The pharma market saw volume growth of 1.1 per cent in August 2026, according to market research firm Pharmarack. This was lower than the 1.3 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 3.3 per cent volume growth recorded in May, June and July 2026, respectively.
“Sales trends follow the normal seasonal pattern. But it is possible that at the same time last year the sales were much higher and against that volume the volume this year is lower. Hence lower growth,” said Sheetal Sapale, vice-president (commercial) at Pharmarack.
Instead, the market was primarily driven by new introductions and high sales value growth. The IPM sales value in August 2026 was recorded at Rs 23,272 crore, up from Rs 20,984 crore in the same month last year.
The sales performance this month was led by double-digit value growth in both acute and chronic therapies alike.
Among the major chronic therapies, cardiac drug sales grew by 15.1 per cent to Rs 3,229 crore, while anti-diabetes drugs saw a 15 per cent rise in value to Rs 2,197 crore.
Similarly, among acute therapies, pain and analgesics saw an 11.3 per cent rise in value to Rs 1,675 crore in August. However, anti-infectives and respiratory drugs saw muted growth of 2.7 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.
“Growth in both sales and units indicates stronger or higher demand, and better acceptance of new introductions. It means that older products as well as newer products are having good demand,” Sapale added.
Among the companies, while the top players registered modest monthly value growth in the domestic market, players such as AstraZeneca (26.5 per cent), Corona Remedies (22 per cent), La Renon (19.3 per cent), and Zydus (19.1 per cent) posted significant monthly value growth in August 2026.
