India could leapfrog traditional models to become a leader in high-value, data-driven healthcare by leveraging AI across the pharmaceutical value chain, turning unstructured health data into actionable insights and driving AI-driven innovation.

The narrative frames unstructured health data as a catalyst for AI-driven efficiency and leadership in high-value life sciences, with data and digital capabilities powering rapid advances.

The report emphasizes India's potential to lead in high-science, high-value innovation by tapping into data and digital tools to transform healthcare.

Global pharma and tech investments in India are expanding, with major firms like Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk increasing AI and digital capabilities in the country.

Specific investments include Eli Lilly expanding its GCC in Hyderabad, BMS opening a USD 100 million innovation hub, Amgen opening a USD 200 million center, Sanofi expanding in Hyderabad with EUR 400 million, and Novo Nordisk growing its Bengaluru hub to 5,000 employees by 2026.

The GCC landscape in healthcare continues to grow with these pharma and biotech investments centered in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and nearby hubs.

The broader government and market context frames India aiming for a USD 30–35 trillion economy by 2047, with a focus on high-value innovation and cross-sector collaboration in life sciences and tech.

Large Language Models are viewed as pivotal for making messy, human-generated health data computable at scale, enabling high-value applications across the sector.

AI and Large Language Models are highlighted as enabling diagnostics, personalized care, and accelerated medical research by turning “dark data” into usable insights.

An EY-Parthenon-OPPI report notes AI integration across drug discovery, development, supply chain, and commercialization, including AI-driven molecule design, predictive diagnostics, virtual trials, and real-world data analytics.

The same report emphasizes that advanced analytics and automation across the drug life cycle are reshaping therapy development and delivery.

Overall, AI, advanced analytics, and automation are driving faster, more precise, and cost-efficient outcomes in pharma, from discovery to market.

Indian startups such as Eka Care, HealthPlix, and Axone Health are leading the AI-healthcare surge, with sector activity growing beyond eight firms in 2024.

Unstructured clinical data—clinical notes, reports, and PDFs—presents a growing market opportunity where NLP and image-recognition tools can extract valuable insights to improve diagnostics and patient care, potentially making patient stories computable at scale.

Partnerships between Indian firms and global pharma, biotech, or academic institutions are seen as accelerators of AI-enabled healthcare innovation and uptake.