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India has rapidly emerged as the global hub for lifesciences Global Capability Centers (GCCs), with 23 of the world’s top 50 life sciences companies establishing centers in the country — a majority of them in just the past five years. These findings are part of EY India’s latest report, ‘Reimagining Life Sciences Global Capability Centers (GCCs)’, which highlights India’s growing role in driving pharmaceutical research, innovation and end-to-end value creation
Life sciences GCCs: from cost centers to innovation engines
The EY report finds that life sciences GCCs have rapidly evolved from traditional back-office roles into strategic innovation engines. Far from being limited to support functions, these centers now play a critical role in global mandates such as drug discovery, digital therapeutics, and real-world evidence (RWE) analytics, increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate pipelines and drive patient-centric innovation.
Enabling end-to-end value across the life sciences chain
Modern GCCs are managing integrated functions across the life sciences ecosystem – spanning clinical trial operations, pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, supply chain analytics, and biostatistics, alongside enabling functions such as Finance, HR, IT, and Data Analytics. This expanded scope is driving measurable enterprise outcomes.
EY analysis also shows that penetration across both enabling and core functions has accelerated sharply in the last five years. On the enabling side, lifesciences GCCs in India now handle 70% of finance, 75% of HR, 62% of supply chain, and 67% of IT functions for their global life sciences firms.
More significantly, their role in core functions has deepened – with 45% penetration in drug discovery and development, 60% in regulatory affairs, 54% in medical affairs, and 50% in commercial operations. This shift underlines India’s transition from a support hub to a strategic center powering end-to-end innovation and operations for the industry.
Commenting on the insights, Arindam Sen, Partner and GCC Sector Lead – Technology, Media & Entertainment and Telecommunications, EY India said, “Our analysis highlights how India has rapidly evolved from a support base to the very center of innovation for global pharma and healthcare. In just five years, GCC penetration in enabling functions like finance, HR, supply chain, and IT has crossed ~60%. But what truly stands out is the deepening role in core functions – from drug discovery and regulatory affairs to medical and commercial operations. This isn’t about cost arbitrage anymore, it’s about India becoming indispensable to the global R&D pipeline. Lifesciences multinationals are embedding their most strategic, knowledge-intensive work here, making India the epicentre for life sciences innovation, compliance, and future growth.”
Why is India leading?
The country’s emergence as the backbone of global life sciences GCCs is underpinned by four key factors:
- Policy support: Both central and state governments have recognized GCCs as drivers of digital exports and job creation and eased foreign investment norms. States such as Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh are offering targeted incentives ranging from capital expenditure subsidies to rental reimbursements, skilling support, and land rebates.
- Talent advantage: India is home to over 2.7 million professionals in the life sciences industry, with a steady annual pipeline of 2 million STEM graduates and more than 110,000 medical graduates. This gives GCCs unparalleled access to scientific, medical, and digital talent.
- Ecosystem maturity: Access to global-quality CROs, leading academic institutions, over 100 unicorns, and a thriving startup ecosystem make India an ideal hub for innovation-driven GCC operations.
- Infrastructure edge: India offers widespread availability of Grade-A commercial spaces across metros and emerging Tier II/III cities, ensuring scalable and cost-efficient GCC growth.
Future outlook:
The EY report notes that leading lifesciences GCCs are positioning themselves not just as support arms but as “twins” of their global headquarters, co-owning innovation, accelerating business outcomes, and actively engaging with the external ecosystem. Their evolution will be defined by three key imperatives:
- Future capabilities: Driving transformation, resilience, and ecosystem collaboration to mitigate risks and innovate beyond boundaries.
- Operating model evolution: Shifting from transactional delivery to outcome-based partnerships.
- Talent imperative: Building agile, multi-disciplinary teams and upskilling in areas like generative AI, bioinformatics, and digital health.