Mumbai has a growing presence in the global biotechnology sector, with local research institutions contributing innovations and providing highly trained researchers and staff. The Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai and the University of Mumbai each boast advanced programs that train young scientists for careers in biotech, with MU offering both an M.Sc. and a PhD track for biotechnicians.
The commercial biotech industry in Mumbai makes good use of its workforce and thought leadership resources, with companies spread across the agriculture, healthcare, food technology and pharmaceutical sectors. One notable Mumbai company developed a significant advancement in insulin delivery devices for diabetic patients. This and other innovations keep the sector thrumming. To learn more about biotech in Mumbai, check out the companies we’ve gathered below.
Biotech Companies in Mumbai
- Pfizer
- Lupin
- Wockhardt
- Procter & Gamble
- AstraZeneca
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
Biotech Companies in Mumbai to Know
Pfizer has become a household-name biotech company with a long history of bringing industry-disrupting breakthrough products to market. It partnered with BioNTech to bring the first mRNA Covid-19 vaccine to the international market during the early stages of the global pandemic, and additionally developed and patented the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which is used to mitigate the severity of Covid-19 infections for the immunocompromised.
Biopharma company AstraZeneca researches, develops and manufactures medical drugs. Its product lines are spread across divisions that pair business approaches with therapeutic areas. The AstraZeneca BioPharma Research & Development unit focuses on identifying novel business methods to employ in the R&D stages of drug discovery.
Novartis is a biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare company that provides generic and branded drugs for the global market. The company is an industry leader in drug development and radiopharmaceutical treatments, which are focused on treating cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological conditions and immune disorders. Novartis also functions as a contract development and manufacturing partner to smaller companies across the biotech sector.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is a Mumbai-headquartered multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. Its manufacturing facilities in Aurangabad, Nashik, Goa, Sikkim and Indore produce formulations for global distribution, with each site specializing in a particular product category or delivery method, such as the Aurangabad site’s focus on inhalers and foam.
Sanofi is a research and product development company in the biotech space, focusing on immunology. It was the first global provider of the polio vaccine and has since been first-to-market in vaccines for influenza, meningitis and rabies. One of the company’s top-performing products is glargine, a long-acting form of insulin used to manage diabetes.
Epigeneres Biotech is a research company that is expert in molecular medicine and nutrigenomic treatments for disease. Its current product focus is on a diagnostic tool for cancer detection, which is designed to support diagnosis even at pre-symptomatic stages. The tool uses HrC technology to detect pre-tumor cancer via blood test at stage zero or stage one, and additionally provides indications about the subject’s likelihood of developing cancer within a year.
Alkem Laboratories is a maker of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical formulations for medical and therapeutic use. It produces both generics and branded products, with treatment areas in rheumatology, urology, anti-osteoporosis and other major disease focuses. The company operates globally through a network of subsidiaries, including the Australian Pharmacor brand, which is served by Alkem manufacturing sites in India.
Sun Pharmaceutical is a specialty generics pharmaceutical manufacturer. It boasts an 85 percent market share in the domestic Indian pharma sector and offers a product list of over 700 currently available items across therapeutic areas. Founded in 1983, Sun Pharma says it’s known for its global-quality manufacturing standards and quality metrics.
Procter & Gamble is a biotechnology and consumer health goods company. Its work in bioscience focuses on in vitro bioassay screening, multi-omics, computational biology and microbiology. These research areas are designed to coalesce into the company’s product development pipeline, which is currently at work on a product that uses bio-AI to clean cold water for human use.
Cochlear is a biotechnology company that makes cochlear implants, which are products for auditory accessibility. These medical devices are implanted by a surgeon and an audiologist into patient ears as treatment for hearing loss. For some people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, the implants can improve or even restore hearing. Cochlear implants work by pairing internal sensors with external sound processors, which are worn behind the ear, similar to a hearing aid.
GSK is a multinational biotechnology firm and manufacturer of vaccines, pharmaceutical products and medical devices. Its product divisions are organized into teams that focus on immunology and respiratory therapies, oncology, HIV treatment and infectious disease. GSK’s current development projects include new treatments for HIV and medication-supported remission in asthma patients.
Titan Laboratories is a niche manufacturer of pellets, granules, tablets and capsules for the biopharma sector. These medications include targeted treatments for neurological, psychological and cardiovascular conditions. The company exports products to the United Kingdom, Europe and globally and boasts industry-leading manufacturing technology for fluid bed coating, matrix granulation, hot-melt process and sugar coating.
Zeno Health is a generics pharmacy group with a network of over 175 physical retail locations in Mumbai and Pune. It offers a micro franchising business model that allows local businesspeople to independently operate dispensing locations and an app that allows patients and providers to upload prescriptions. The company dispenses a line of medications that it brands “GoodAid,” which are specifically sourced from WHO-GMP certified manufacturers.
Lupin is an Indian drug company that produces generic pharmaceutical products. It is one of the largest such manufacturers in the world, with specialty divisions in oncology, anti-infectives, diabetes care and pediatrics. The company produces over 1,000 distinct products, which are distributed to more than 100 countries worldwide.
Medikabazaar is a medical supply company in the biotech and healthcare sectors. It offers B2B marketplace services for healthcare procurement, including medical equipment and supplies. Buyers can access supplies for medical, veterinary and dental diagnosis in addition to treatments. It also offers equipment and devices. For labs and practices that are just starting up, the company offers turnkey project services.
Multinational medication company Macleods Pharmaceuticals makes therapeutic products for a wide variety of treatment areas, including oncology, anti-infectives and hormone replacement therapy. Its Indian manufacturing sites primarily supply distribution lines to the African continent, where the company has over one thousand registered products on the market.
Ipca Laboratories is an active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, manufacturer in the biotechnology space. It produces three crucial products, which are used by pharmaceutical manufacturers in the drug production process. The company makes theobromine, acetylthiophene and p-bromotoluene for the export market.
Roche is an enterprise biotech and pharmaceutical company that has been in business since 1896. In that time it has produced well-known drugs including the benzodiazepine Valium. Roche’s biotech initiatives research and design treatments as well as diagnostic products for diabetes, cardiometabolic disease and many other categories. The company is also invested, through the network of independently operated biotech companies it parents, in molecular diagnostics to identify biomarkers for rare conditions.
Indian biopharma business Wockhardt is a notable research, development and manufacturer of drugs for global export. The company operates worldwide through a network of subsidiaries. It works across product development for drugs, vaccines, nutritional products, medical devices and medical packaging.
Thermo Fisher Scientific is a life sciences company that makes laboratory supplies and production equipment for pharmaceutical and biotechnology product development. Its product lines include equipment like cryotubes and pipettes, as well as materials for experiments, such as cell culture media, antibodies and amino acids. These supplies and substances are used in creating and implementing experiments as part of the drug discovery process.
