India emerging as life sciences GCC hub, to enhance drug discovery, compliance: Report

New Delhi: With 23 of the world’s top 50 life sciences companies establishing centres in the country, India has emerged as the global hub of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) for life sciences, according to a report.

The report by advisory firm EY India showed that a majority of the companies established their presence in the country in the last five years. This is indicative of India’s growing role in driving pharmaceutical research, innovation, and end-to-end value creation.

Notably, the life sciences GCCs have rapidly evolved from traditional back-office roles into strategic innovation engines.

Far from being limited to support functions, these centers now play a critical role in global mandates such as drug discovery, digital therapeutics, and real-world evidence (RWE) analytics, increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate pipelines and drive patient-centric innovation, the report said.

“Our analysis highlights how India has rapidly evolved from a support base to the very center of innovation for global pharma and healthcare. In just five years, GCC penetration in enabling functions like finance, HR, supply chain, and IT has crossed about 60 per cent,” said Arindam Sen, Partner and GCC Sector Lead – Technology, Media & Entertainment and Telecommunications, EY India.