E-pharmacies are likely to grow seven times to $3.7 billion by CY22 as they aim to grab a large pie of the highly fragmented Indian market, according to a research note by foreign brokerage, CLSA. The brick and mortar chemists have been protesting against the business models of online pharmacies and have gone on strike several times. The Indian pharma market is valued at $20 billion and has been growing at 10-12 per cent. Continuation of current growth trends could propel the market to $35 billion by 2025, the report noted. As per Frost and Sullivan, e-pharmacy is a nascent market worth $0.5 billion, but it is expected to grow nearly 7 times at 63 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) to $3.7 billion by 2022, riding higher internet penetration. “Once e-pharmacies are able to garner 10-15 per cent share of the market, they are likely to have better bargaining power and could then be able to capture a larger pie of margins. Automatic substitution of doctor prescription to unbranded generics (Gx) could be a game changer for e-pharmacies. This may be possible once India enforces uniform quality standards,” CLSA said in the note.

(Economic Times)