Aurobindo Pharma Ltd

Performance in the 2026 Benchmark

Leads among generic medicine manufacturers. Aurobindo performs well across its evaluated Research Areas. It leads in Responsible Manufacturing among generic medicine manufacturers, reporting that all antibacterial products manufactured at its own and suppliers’ sites are compliant with discharge limits, and demonstrating Best Practice for taking a hands-on approach to its suppliers’ wastewater practices. Aurobindo performs at a mid-level in Appropriate Access & Stewardship. It registers its products in more countries than other assessed generic medicine manufacturers and demonstrates Best Practice through its portfolio-wide registration approach in East Africa and monitoring patient reach. However, there is room to strengthen its stewardship approach, as appropriate use is not consistently integrated across business practices.

Opportunities for Aurobindo

Expand appropriate access to paediatric formulations of antibacterial and antifungal medicines. Aurobindo registers its off-patent medicines in the highest number of countries among generic medicine manufacturers (19 LMICs on average), yet the company does not always register its child-friendly formulations in all of these countries. It can bridge this gap and expand access to paediatric formulations of its medicines through registration and implementing appropriate access strategies in at least the same countries it already registers the corresponding adult formulations.  

Strengthen its governance of interactions with healthcare professionals.  Aurobindo only includes clear principles governing interactions with healthcare professionals (HCPs) in its national public policy in the US. Aurobindo can strengthen its governance, and thereby address appropriate use of its antimicrobials, by clearly addressing interactions with HCPs globally and including specific provisions to ensure a legitimate need for such interactions; mitigate potential conflicts of interest – specifically between employees and HCPs; limit transfers of value and ensure these are paid at fair market value. 

Ensure compliance with discharge limits directly in wastewater at all sites and improve transparency on levels of compliance achieved by its suppliers. Aurobindo reports 100% compliance with discharge limits set in the receiving environment for its own and its supplier’s products based on mass balance estimations or directly in the wastewater under Zero Liquid Discharge conditions, but discloses this publicly only for its own products. To further safeguard AMR risk from antibacterial manufacturing, it can publicly report compliance with discharge limits directly in wastewater for both its own and suppliers’ products – a step beyond its current practice of setting discharge limits in receiving waters – in line with the ‘stringent’ WHO guidance. 

Changes since November 2023 update report on previous Benchmark opportunities

In 2024, Aurobindo reported achieving Zero Liquid Discharge status at five of its manufacturing sites. 

Sales & Operations

• Therapeutic areas: Anti-infectives, cardiovascular, central nervous system, dermatology, diabetes, gastroenterology, oncology, respiratory

• Product categories: Generic medicines & biosimilars

• Investments in AMR: No notable investments identified.

• M&A news: None identified in the antibacterial and/or antifungal sectors.

Sample of portfolio assessed by the Benchmark

Performance by Research Area

Responsible manufacturing

Performs strongly. Reports a comprehensive environmental risk management strategy aimed at mitigating AMR risk at its own and suppliers’ sites. It reports compliance of all antibacterial products manufactured at its own sites and its suppliers’ sites. Aurobindo’s incorporation of AMR provisions into supplier contracts, and its reporting on supplier compliance with discharge limits, is highlighted as a Best Practice in the Benchmark. Aurobindo publicly discloses the level of compliance achieved at its own sites, but not at its suppliers’ sites, nor does it publicly share the quantification methods implemented. 

Mitigates AMR risk at both its own sites and suppliers’ sites; reports 100% of antibacterials are compliant with discharge limits. Aurobindo’s  environmental risk management strategy is based on the AMR Industry Alliance Standard (Industry Standard) and WHO guidance. It has implemented ZLD systems at some antibiotic-producing sites, covering 7 of its 23 antibacterial products. Aurobindo estimates antibacterial discharges at its own sites using mass balance estimation; if PNECs are exceeded, chemical analysis is conducted and CAPA plans implemented. It reports that 100% of antibacterial products made at its own sites comply with discharge limits;  16 of 23 are compliant with PNECs in the receiving environment where wastewater is already diluted. It reports wastewater is pretreated and sent to Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) for further treatment prior to disposal. The other 7 of 23 are compliant in wastewater under ZLD conditions. Contractual provisions require its sole antibacterial supplier to follow the Industry Standard and use PSCI-recommended quantification methods. Aurobindo also conducts supplier audits and reports that the supplier’s product is compliant directly in the wastewater under ZLD conditions. Aurobindo works with external wastewater treatment plants and reports employing measures to treat wastewater it sends to minimise AMR risk.  

Publicly discloses basic details of its AMR mitigation strategy and 100% of its antibacterials are compliant with limits. Aurobindo publicly reports implementing the Industry Standard, quantifying discharge levels and achieving compliance with discharge limits in the receiving environment at 100% of its own sites. However, it does not disclose the audit results or actual discharge levels for its own operations or those of its suppliers. It does, however, publicly disclose the exact names and locations of its own sites by antibacterial product category, but not for its suppliers’.  

Appropriate Access & Stewardship

Mid-performing. Shows strong performance in registering its products in more countries on average compared to peers, as highlighted in a Best Practice in the Benchmark. Aurobindo also performs well in implementing general appropriate access and stewardship strategies and demonstrating efforts to monitor patient reach by tracking units sold at the country level for all eight products assessed. Its performance regarding stewardship is inconsistent, as appropriate use is considered in its sales practices, but not across its business practices. Aurobindo registers its off-patent medicines more widely than its peers. 

Aurobindo registers its off-patent medicines more widely than its peers.

Aurobindo registers its off-patent medicines in 19 countries.* In many countries where the company registers its off-patent medicines, it also registers paediatric formulations. Its off-patent medicines targeting MDR-TB are registered in 9 countries, including 3 where the corresponding disease burden is high. For all products selected for analysis, Aurobindo engages in the East African Community Medicine Harmonization Programme to facilitate registrations in the region.

^{*All numbers in this statement are expressed as an average of the products selected for analysis and refer to registrations in the 113 countries in scope for ‘access metrics’.} 

Average performance, with a general strategy to provide access to off-patent/generic products and high-level stewardship activities. Aurobindo implements the same access strategy across all 8 products assessed, participating in tenders in the public sector to promote competitiveness and more affordable prices, while also making the products available in the private sectors of the countries supplied.  No further details on product- and country-specific strategies have been disclosed. The company demonstrates consistent efforts to monitor its access strategies by tracking units sold at the country level for all 8 products assessed. The company engages in some general stewardship activities for all products, such as responsible promotion and antimicrobial stewardship meetings with clinicians.  

Strong efforts to mitigate stockouts/shortages. Some reported evidence of systems to ensure product quality. Aurobindo implements demand planning and data sharing using a monthly rolling forecast with a long- to medium-range horizon. The plan is shared monthly with key internal stakeholders, including Customer Relations and Order Management teams. It also shares demand forecasts with external stakeholders. It maintains 5-6 month buffer stock for critical APIs and finished products.  It implements an automated inventory management system with a demand-driven, buffer-based inventory approach, maintaining buffer above expected demand. It implements a diversified sourcing strategy for its critical antibacterial and antifungal medicines by prioritising local sourcing for key raw materials.  For the products in scope, Aurobindo manufactures more than 96% of its APIs and 100% of finished products in-house. It mitigates substandard and falsified products by verifying suppliers through GMP audits. It also implements security features, such as serialised bar codes. However, it is unclear whether it takes additional mitigation steps in countries with evolving regulatory systems or informs relevant stakeholders when falsified medicine cases are identified. 

Clearly addresses appropriate use in its sales practices, but not in its public policy. Aurobindo does not deploy sales agents to sell and/or promote its antibacterial and antifungal medicines to HCPs in most countries. In a few countries, a minor share of sales is made through sales agents, who promote a broad portfolio of products to HCPs, which includes antibacterial and antifungal medicines. For these agents, Aurobindo does not decouple incentives from sales volume targets.  While Aurobindo does not apply its sales practices to third parties working on its behalf, it reports not paying incentives to third parties. Aurobindo’s public policy on business ethics does not explicitly specify measures to ensure ethical interactions with HCPs. While Aurobindo abides by disclosure requirements, it does not voluntarily disclose transfers of value publicly in countries where it is not mandated to by law, or by other codes of practice.