Small Pharma: hyper-specialization in India’s pharmaceutical industry

India counts 12477 companies (MoCA 2016) for 5099 factories (ASI 2016). This statistical gap cannot be solely explained by registration tactics or data errors; it illustrates how India’s firms are not only restricted to manufacturing activities. Some firms do not possess any manufacturing unit, yet they are actively involved in the design, packaging, branding, promotion, logistics and licensing of generic drugs. Although they are instrumental in the diffusion of India’s pharmaceuticals, particularly in low and middle-income countries, their hyper-specialized activities have never been documented and remain a blind spot of pharmaceutical studies that often focus on large multinational groups. In this presentation, we will draw on extensive fieldworks in Ahmedabad and Mumbai and semi-structured interviews with directors of micro, small, and medium enterprises headquartered (n = 114) to highlight this little-known facet of India’s pharmaceutical industry. Generally, you will learn about the activities of these firms, their positions in South-South value chains, and their role in the development of India’s pharmaceutical industry.