The world’s largest pharmaceutical companies maintain operations in India — not as an afterthought, but as a strategic commitment. The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) counts 26 ordinary members and 10 affiliates. They run clinical trials in Indian hospitals, file patent applications with the Indian Patent Office, manufacture medicines in Indian plants, and employ thousands of Indian scientists and engineers. Together, they have filed more than 15,000 patent applications in India alone.
When a Swiss pharmaceutical executive decides to file a patent application in New Delhi, or a Japanese drugmaker opens a clinical research centre in Hyderabad, or an American biotech company invests in a manufacturing plant in Karnataka, they are not doing it for charity. They are doing it because India is the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical market by volume, home to 1.4 billion potential patients, and increasingly, a place where serious science gets done.
The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) represents these companies. Its member companies span nine countries — from the United States and Switzerland to Japan and Denmark. Several operate Indian subsidiaries listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Others run research centres, contract manufacturing operations, and clinical trial networks across the country. What they share is a bet that India is not merely a market to sell into but a place to build from.
The patent filing record tells part of this story. Since the late 1990s, OPPI member companies have filed more than 15,770 patent applications with the Indian Patent Office — a sustained, decades-long investment in Indian intellectual property protection. Roche leads with 1,891 filings. Bayer, Novartis, and AstraZeneca each exceed a thousand. These are not speculative filings. Each one represents a molecule, a formulation, or a process that the company considered important enough to protect in India specifically.
Six OPPI member companies operate subsidiaries listed on Indian stock exchanges — a deeper commitment than a branch office or a distribution agreement. A listed entity means Indian shareholders, Indian regulatory filings, Indian board governance, and publicly audited Indian financial statements. It means accountability to Indian capital markets.
Abbott India, with revenue of ₹6,409 crore ($767 million) in FY 2024–25, is the largest of these. The company has operated in India for over 80 years and markets more than 130 products across six therapeutic areas. Twelve of its brands hold the number-one position in their respective categories. GSK Pharmaceuticals India, with revenue of $447 million in FY 2024–25 and a presence dating to the colonial era, is the longest-established. AstraZeneca Pharma India has grown from $77 million in FY 2014–15 to $206 million in FY 2024–25 — a 168% increase over a decade. Pfizer India (BSE: 500680), one of the longest-operating MNC subsidiaries in India, reported net sales of ₹2,128 crore ($255 million) in FY 2024–25. Sanofi India maintains a workforce of over 3,400 and has generated annual revenue above $330 million for most of the last decade.
Novartis Healthcare India, once a substantial listed presence, has been winding down its Indian operations — revenue fell from $105 million in FY 2014–15 to $40 million in FY 2023–24 before the company delisted from Indian exchanges. That trajectory tells its own story about the choices multinationals make, and unmake, in India.
Patent filings are a proxy for research intent. When Novartis files 1,816 patent applications in India, or AstraZeneca files 1,216, they are declaring that India is a place where they expect to commercialise science — not just sell generic alternatives to expired patents, but introduce new molecules and defend new inventions. The filing patterns span more than two decades, from the late 1990s through 2026, tracking India’s evolution from a country that did not recognise pharmaceutical product patents to one that does.
Several companies have established dedicated research centres in India. Eli Lilly runs clinical operations across Indian hospitals. Novo Nordisk has invested in diabetes research and manufacturing. Boehringer Ingelheim operates clinical trial programmes. These are not peripheral activities. For companies spending billions annually on global R&D — AbbVie at $13.8 billion, AstraZeneca at $13.6 billion, Roche at comparable levels — India offers a combination of scientific talent, patient diversity, and cost efficiency that few other countries can match.
Twenty-six ordinary members and ten affiliate members of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), plus major multinational pharmaceutical companies with significant India operations. They represent the global pharmaceutical industry’s presence in India — from century-old European chemistry houses to twenty-first-century American biotechs.