Genomics Revolution Amid Global Patents Expiry Wave

July 3, 2026

-Jag Mohan Thaken

India is uniquely positioned to capitalise on a global genomics revolution and a looming $300 billion patent expiry wave that is driving an aggressive wave of biopharma acquisitions. Reports say India hosts more WHOcertified pharmaceutical manufacturing plants than any other country on earth and for three decades, the model has been consistent science invented in the West, scaled and delivered by India. The huge patent expiry wave will present Indian manufacturers with their largest growth windows and the medicines that are going to expire are not small molecules, but biologics, gene therapies and precision oncology drugs. India is building capabilities in these fields through initiatives such as the Biopharma Shakti scheme and the Genome India Project mapping 10,000 genomes across 99 ethnic groups. The firm noted India’s domestic genomics market is growing at over 16 per cent annually and is actively building toward this moment. Globally, artificial intelligence is compressing drug discovery timelines from a decade to under 18 months and clinical genomic data and machine learning are producing commercial revenue that validates faster development. Across the genomics sector, companies are now using clinical genomic data to accelerate target identification at a scale no conventional research organisation could match. Some platforms are running over a million biological experiments weekly using machine learning. Biopharma M& A reached $106 billion across 201 deals in just the first half of 2026, on pace for the strongest full year since pre-pandemic. In the first half of 2026, biotech IPOs raised more capital than the entire sector managed across all of 2025 a year when only 11 companies went public globally. Venture capital deployed into biotech hit $38 billion in 2025, up 28 per cent year-on-year. India has entered a futuristic healthcare phase with molecular diagnostics, genome sequencing, and personalised medicine, said Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology. India is now scientifically and economically equipped to take on complex health challenges through genomics, biotechnology, and preventive healthcare. Unlike earlier decades, when India was primarily battling infectious diseases, the country has now entered a futuristic phase where molecular diagnostics, genome sequencing, and personalised medicine are becoming central to healthcare delivery. India is witnessing rapid progress in genomics-led initiatives, including large-scale genome sequencing, paediatric genetic disease programmes, and pioneering work in areas such as haemophilia. These efforts are preparing the healthcare system for “an era of personalised treatment, where patients with similar conditions may require different therapeutic approaches. The introduction of India’s first National Policy for Rare Diseases in 2021 marked a major shift in the government’s approach, reflecting foresight and openness to scientific inputs. He highlighted that detection alone is not enough, and sustained treatment must also be made affordable for affected families