New Delhi, Oct 18 (TIWN) E-pharmacies are likely to grow seven times to $3.7 billion by CY22 as they aim to grab a large pie of the highly fragmented Indian market, according to a research note by foreign brokerage, CLSA.

The brick and mortar chemists have been protesting against the business models of online pharmacies and have gone on strike several times.  The Indian pharma market is valued at $20 billion and has been growing at 10-12 per cent. Continuation of current growth trends could propel the market to $35 billion by 2025, the report noted.  However, the distribution channel of the pharmacy market in India is highly unorganised and fragmented with over 80,000 distributors and more than 0.85 million brick and mortar retail outlets allowing room for organised and online pharmacies.  According to CLSA, there are several e-pharmacies operating currently but Netmeds, Pharmeasy, Medlife and 1mg have emerged as the key players with a pan-India reach. Apollo Pharmacy with 3,500 stores is the largest offline pharmacy and is also piloting an e-pharma portal. These companies have cumulatively raised close to $400 million since starting out.