Drug major Lupin said it has inked an in-licensing agreement with pharma company MSD, under which the company will market MSD's pneumonia prevention vaccine under a different brand name in India.

The loan pact with Chinese banks will be backed by the supply of refined products from Essar Oil's Vadinar refinery in Gujarat. This will be a kind of export advance which the company will use to cut its debt.

Drug major Lupin also aims to grow sales by over 20 per cent in the world's most lucrative drug market over the next two years.

Dependence on China has generated enough concerns for the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association to call for anti-dumping duties on some bulk drugs and intermediates from the country.

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Though they compete fiercely, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Aurobindo Pharma, Zydus Cadila, Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals and Ranbaxy - each one a giant - came together in July 2010 to share their best practices, in a bid to improve efficiency and bring down rising operating costs.

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Vinita Gupta has almost singlehandedly shown the world how India can succeed in the market for branded drugs in the United States.

Investing in select pharma stocks might be the shot in the arm that your portfolio needs in times of a slowdown. The general environment for the pharma industry, particularly for domestic companies, seems positive.

As the markets fell in 2008, some stocks actually rose. Rakesh Rai and Sameer Bhardwaj list five factors that helped them beat the markets.

Piramal's domestic formulations business becomes the latest—and most expensive—acquisition of an Indian drug business by a global pharma major. As the stakes get higher, who's next?

Dr Reddy's Labs has learnt plenty from a global acquisition that went spectacularly awry. Just one of those lessons: Build depth before breadth.

By refocussing its strategies, Natco Pharma has pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy to power ahead in cancer drugs. Now it is looking for niche areas globally. Can it scale up and take on global competition?

The market is going through a rough phase as it navigates cross-currents. What should investors do?

The sheer amount of manufacturing activity taking place in small towns of India is mindboggling. Shops are being set up at breakneck speed and there is massive expansion. Where are these clusters located, and can they really deliver on their promise? Here is what Business Today discovered.

Investors have been lukewarm to the FMCG and pharma sectors. But the future looks brighter than the immediate past.