AI and GCCs in India compress drug development timelines by up to 6 years

Pharmaceutical and life sciences global capability centres in India are compressing drug development timelines from 10-15 years to 9-13 years through end-to-end adoption of AI, automation, and advanced analytics across the value chain, according to a report by KPMG in India and UnearthIQ. R&D-to-launch costs have declined from 20-30% to 15-25%.

Across R&D and pre-clinical development, GCCs are accelerating target identification, protein modelling, and compound screening, cutting early-stage timelines by 5-6 years. In clinical trials, AI-driven patient recruitment, trial design, and real-time analytics are shortening development cycles by 4-6 years and improving success rates.

Agentic artificial intelligence is accelerating documentation-heavy processes in biopharma, potentially shortening drug development timelines in an industry where bringing a therapy to market can take up to 15 years and cost billions. Rising manufacturing costs, competition from generics and fast followers, and one of the steepest patent cliffs in history are straining traditional business models, making efficiency gains increasingly critical.

Documentation-intensive tasks such as clinical trial protocols, quality reporting, and regulatory submissions are among the primary targets for AI-enabled automation. In one case, a multi-agent AI system was developed for a global pharmaceutical company to reduce the time required to produce clinical trial protocols, a process that previously took teams of medical writers up to six months for a single document. The system integrates internal content management platforms and regulatory systems with external scientific databases, combining generative AI with governance controls to maintain terminology accuracy, reference citations, and regulatory compliance.

In research and development, generative AI tools can reduce early-stage drug discovery timelines by 25% or more by supporting in silico identification and optimisation of small and large molecule candidates. Commercial functions are also seeing impact, with AI-enabled personalised materials for physicians and patients linked to revenue increases of up to 10% and reductions in external agency costs of 25%.

The generative AI market in healthcare is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 85%, expanding from $1b this year to $22b by 2027. Approximately 25% of biopharma companies report that AI has delivered cost reductions and revenue increases of at least 5%, alongside gains in speed and agility.

Life sciences and medtech global capability centres in India are shifting from cost-focused delivery units to AI-powered innovation hubs, with companies deploying artificial intelligence across research, clinical, commercial and manufacturing workflows to speed development and improve patient impact. GCCs are increasingly being tasked with end-to-end ownership of digital and R&D programmes.

AI is being used across companies to accelerate molecule discovery, compress clinical documentation timelines and unlock value from decades of research data. AI is acting as a talent multiplier, helping teams work more effectively with unstructured data and lifting productivity. The efficiency gains free R&D teams from routine tasks, redirecting talent toward bold, high-impact innovation.

India today hosts over 150 healthcare and life sciences GCCs, spanning R&D centres, global business services, global shared services, and centres of excellence, and employing over 3 lakh professionals. The landscape is dominated by GCCs in pharma (30-35%), life sciences (20-25%), and medical devices (20-25%), with a growing presence across healthcare and healthtech (20%), providers (10%), and payers (5%).

GCC-led programmes are improving trial readiness, accelerating innovation cycles and enabling connected care models. These centres are being positioned to address headwinds including ageing populations, shrinking clinical workforces, pricing pressure, tighter regulation and supply-chain volatility.

Healthcare and medtech GCCs in India are undergoing a sharp shift, from traditional engineering support to innovation-led product development hubs, largely driven by embedding AI platforms, digital engineering, and regulatory automation across R&D, design, manufacturing, and compliance.