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New Delhi: With nearly half of the global life sciences giants operating or planning Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India, the country has emerged as the epicenter for new drug development and capability expansion in pharmaceuticals across the world.
According to a recent EY report, 23 of the world’s top 50 life sciences companies are establishing centers in India to expand their capacity, with a diverse talent pool and leverage policy support offering targeted incentives ranging from capital expenditure subsidies to rental reimbursements, land rebates etc.
Additionally, for making India a preferred destination for life sciences, GCCs is also supported by a fastly evolving R&D support network including global-quality CROs, over 100 unicorns, and a thriving startup ecosystem.
Some notable examples of this shift include global giants such as Novartis, AstraZeneca, GSK, and, more recently, US pharma major Eli Lilly, which launched its second GCC in Hyderabad following its Bengaluru center.
However, unlike their traditional back-end management roles, the consultancy giant outlined that modern GCCs including the ones in India are emerging as strategic centers driving end-to-end innovation and operations for the industry.
While commanding the enabling functions—finance, HR, IT, Data Analytics–Lifesciences GCCs in India have increased their footprint in core operations.
For instance the report suggests a 45 per cent penetration in drug discovery and development, 60 per cent in regulatory affairs, 54 per cent in medical affairs, and 50 per cent in commercial operations.
In just five years, GCC penetration in enabling functions like finance, HR, supply chain, and IT has crossed 60 per cent. But what truly stands out is the deepening role in core functions – from drug discovery and regulatory affairs to medical and commercial operations,” said Arindam Sen, Partner and GCC Sector Lead, EY India.
“This isn’t about cost arbitrage anymore, and life science multinationals are embedding their most strategic, knowledge-intensive work here,” he added.
- Published On Sep 2, 2025 at 07:53 AM IST
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