Pharma firms with India focus preferred as US market concerns grow

Steady outlook and higher returns triggers for companies refining their strategy

The Nifty Pharma index has been one of the major underperformers, declining over 11 per cent since the start of 2022. In contrast, the benchmark Nifty50 has risen 5 per cent during the period. Even as pharma stocks have disappointed investors, brokerages believe domestic pharma companies would be a better bet going ahead than those with a high exposure to the US market.

The reasons for this investment argument are higher regulatory and pricing pressures in the US market and the recent bounce-back of the Indian pharmaceutical sector. Sun Pharma’s Halol facility in Gujarat recently received an import alert notification