Best Biotech Stocks to Buy in India

After the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in investor interest in Biotech stocks in India. Biotech or biotechnology is the integration of biology and technology to use living cells to develop products used in pharma, foods, waste processing, etc. Biotechnology has applications dating back to primitive days with fermentation using yeast to produce cheese, wine, bread, etc.

The global biotechnology industry’s size is about $1 trillion and is expected to reach ~$3 trillion in the future. The U.S. continues to be the largest innovator and market with both thousands of startups as well as established giants. The biotech industry led by pharma giants like MODERNA and Pfizer quickly produced the mRNA COVID vaccines. India is also one of the largest players with an $80 billion size. The government is heavily funding nine biotech parks and over 60 biotech innovations. The country has a lot of startups as well as U.S.-certified manufacturing plants. The government also plans to fund 51 Biotech Kisan hubs and ‘Waste to Wealth’ plants to produce compressed biogas. India also has a huge advantage of a low-cost scientific workforce.

Many of biotech companies are small and risky, while large pharma companies only have small biotech operations.

1. Biocon – is part of a large pharma group and has a large operating history in biosimilars. Though the recent stock performance has been dismal, the company has strong capabilities.

2. Syngene – which is owned by Biocon has one of the largest pools of scientists with long-running contracts with global R&D pharma giants. It is also one of the largest CDMO companies in India.

3. Serum Institutes of India – is one of the largest vaccine makers in the world but is unlisted as of now.

4. Panacea Biotech – is also a leading vaccine maker in India, but profitability has been a challenge for this company.

5. Krebs Biochem – is another small biotech company that has performed poorly to date.

6. Praj Industries – has one of the best R&D teams and is strong across biofuels. It has benefited strongly by providing equipment to make ethanol. The company has a number of global partnerships and can be a multi-bagger if it executes well.

There are other listed and unlisted biotech companies as well, but the above are a few of the interesting ones. With advancements in biology as well as information technology, the industry should see high double-digit growth going forward.

Also, read Should You Buy Mahindra & Mahindra Shares On Strong EV Trends