Cipla Ltd

Performance in the 2026 Benchmark

Mid-performing. Cipla performs well in Responsible Manufacturing by publicly reporting all antibacterial products manufactured at its own sites comply with discharge limits, and demonstrating a Best Practice for taking a hands-on approach to its suppliers’ wastewater practices. It has potential to strengthen performance in Appropriate Access & Stewardship, where its efforts are mixed. It performs strongly in ensuring continuous supply of its products in LMICs and demonstrates Best Practice for supporting diagnostic capacity to safeguard medicines against drug resistance. However, it registers its products in fewer countries than other assessed generic medicine manufacturers and can strengthen its access strategies for its on-patent medicines. 

Opportunities for Cipla

Expand appropriate access to paediatric formulations of its off-patent antibacterial and antifungal medicines. Cipla registers its off-patent antibacterial and antifungal medicines in an average of six LMICs, yet the company does not always register 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.  

Improve access to on-patent Reserve antibiotic plazomicin (Zemdri ®) in LMICs, beyond India. Cipla only registers its on-patent Reserve antibiotic, plazomicin (Zemdri ®), in India and its access strategy for the product remains unclear. Cipla can improve access to its product, indicated for complicated urinary tract infections in adults, by registering it in additional LMICs and implementing appropriate access and stewardship strategies – particularly for countries with a high unmet need. 

Ensure compliance with discharge limits directly in wastewater at all sites and improve transparency on levels of compliance achieved by its suppliers. Cipla publicly reports 100% compliance with discharge limits set in the receiving environment for its own products based on mass balance estimations, or directly in the wastewater under Zero Liquid Discharge conditions. 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 and require supplier compliance through contractual provisions – 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, Cipla reported that 54% of its manufacturing sites had achieved Zero Liquid Discharge status. 

• In June 2024, Cipla partnered with Orchid Pharma to launch antibiotic cefepime-enmetazobactam in India for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs), hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia indications. 

• In 2024, Cipla partnered with CSIR-CDRI to advance Ophthalmic Antifungal Treatment Development. 

• In May 2025, Cipla launched ZEMDRI® (Plazomicin) in India, a novel treatment for cUTIs, including pyelonephritis, a severe kidney infection. 

Sales & Operations

• Therapeutic areas: Anti-infectives, cardiovascular, central nervous system, dermatology, gastrointestinal, metabolic disorders, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, respiratory diseases, women's health, urology

• Product categories: Consumer health products, diagnostics, generic medicines & biosimilars, innovative medicines, respiratory devices

• Investments in AMR: No notable investments identified.

• M&A news: In May 2024, Cipla acquired an additional stake in Achira Labs, increasing its holding to 27% (from 21% in June 2022). Achira develops point-of-care diagnostics for infectious diseases and AMR, enabling rapid pathogen identification to support timely, appropriate antibiotic use.

Sample of portfolio assessed by the Benchmark

Performance by Research Area

Responsible manufacturing

Performs well. Reports an environmental risk management strategy aimed at mitigating AMR risk at both its own and suppliers’ sites. It reports compliance with discharge limits at its own sites and its hands-on approach to supporting suppliers’ wastewater management practices is highlighted as a Best Practice in the Benchmark. However, it does not report on supplier compliance and does not incorporate AMR provisions into supplier contracts. Cipla publicly discloses its quantification methods and the level of compliance achieved at its own sites, but not at its suppliers’ sites. 

Mitigates AMR risk at both its own sites and suppliers’ sites; reports 100% of antibacterials are compliant with limits for its own sites and sets expectations for suppliers. Cipla’s environmental risk management is based on the AMR Industry Alliance Standard (Industry Standard) and WHO guidance. It implements ZLD systems at 70% of its antibiotic manufacturing sites, all based in India. Cipla estimates antibacterial discharges at its own sites using mass balance, which are verified by chemical analysis annually. Cipla reports that 100% of antibacterial products manufactured at its own sites are compliant with PNECs in the receiving environment. At sites where ZLD systems are not installed, the wastewater is already diluted, which means that AMR risks present in wastewater may not be fully captured despite compliance in the receiving environment. Two of its products received a BSI Kitemark™ for Minimised Risk of Antimicrobial Resistance Certification, namely azithromycin and ciprofloxacin. Cipla asks its suppliers to follow the Industry Standard and conducts capability building workshops. It also reports having reviewed discharge levels of its suppliers once. However, it does not report the number of antibacterials manufactured by its suppliers that comply with discharge limits, and does not include AMR provisions in its supplier contracts. Cipla 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. Cipla publicly reports implementing the Industry Standard and ZLD systems at 67% of its manufacturing sites, quantifying discharge levels through mass balance methods – which is verified through chemical analysis – and achieving compliance with discharge limits in the receiving environment at 100% of its own sites. However, it does not disclose audit results or actual discharge levels for its own operations, or those of its suppliers, nor does it disclose details of the quantification methods used to assess antibacterial discharge levels. Additionally, the company does not publicly disclose the names and locations of its manufacturing sites for each manufactured antibacterial.  

^{*The total of business segments is not equal to the total revenue (INR 275.48 bn), due to the substraction of the inter segment revenue.} 

^{**In India, companies follow a financial year from April 1 to March 31, so their annual turnover and revenue figures (shown for 2025) may not align with other companies in the AMR Benchmark that report on a calendar-year basis (January–December) for which 2024 figures are shown.} 

^{***Includes operations of the Company, consumer healthcare, biosimilars and specialty business.} 

^{†  South Africa reported separately until 2024–2025; One Africa (including South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Cipla Global Access) reported since.} 

Appropriate Access & Stewardship

Low-performing. Shows strong performance in ensuring continuous supply, as it has a comprehensive approach to mitigate stockouts and shortages and ensures GMP compliance at its own and suppliers’ sites. Its performance in implementing access and stewardship strategies is inconsistent, reporting limited access efforts for its on-patent medicines. However, Cipla’s support of improved diagnostics for three assessed antibiotic medicines, two of which are classified as Reserve, in India is highlighted as a Best Practice in the Benchmark. Cipla can increase its registrations as it registers its products less widely compared to peers. 

Cipla registers its on- and off-patent medicines in fewer countries than its peers. 

Cipla registers its on-patent medicines in India and its off-patent medicines in 6 countries.* Of all the off-patent medicines assessed, a paediatric formulation of 1 medicine is registered in just 1 country in total. Its on- and off-patent Reserve antibiotics and medicines targeting MDR-TB are registered in 4 countries, including 2 countries where the corresponding disease burden is high. Specifically for its medicine targeting MDR-TB, levofloxacin, Cipla engages in WHO’s Prequalification process to facilitate registrations.

^{*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’.} 

Below-average performance, with stewardship strategies for 2 on-patent products assessed, but detailed access strategies are lacking. Cipla makes both products included in the analysis – plazomicin (Zemdri ®) and cefepime-enmetazobactam (Cipenmet ®; Esblocip ®) – available in India; however, no data is reported on the access strategies applied to these products. Cipla demonstrates efforts to monitor its access strategies by reporting the number of units sold in India for both products during the period of analysis. For both products, the company implements stewardship strategies in India, focusing on responsible promotion and sales practices, as well as the availability of supportive diagnostic tools, such as sensitivity discs and E-strips. 

Average performance, with access and stewardship strategies for 7 of 10 off-patent products assessed and outcomes reported for all 10. Cipla reports having access strategies for 7 of the 10 products assessed but shares limited information on these strategies. Most products are available in both the public and private sectors in India, while 2 – amikacin and colistin – are only supplied in the private sector. Cipla provides evidence of tracking its strategies by reporting units sold during the period of analysis for all 10 products. Cipla implements stewardship strategies for 7 products, most of which involve general activities targeting the responsible promotion of antibiotics. For the Reserve antibiotic, ceftazidime-avibactam, Cipla supported improved diagnostic capacity by providing hospitals with sensitivity discs and E-strips to facilitate the product’s appropriate use.   

Strong efforts to mitigate stockouts/shortages. Strong reported evidence of systems to ensure product quality. Cipla implements demand planning and data sharing through monthly demand forecasts, maintaining a 12-24 month rolling forecast for India and a 24-month forecast for Africa. These are shared with internal teams to inform procurement, capacity planning and manufacturing decisions. It maintains a buffer stock for critical APIs and finished products in India and South Africa. Its inventory management systems are tailored to market needs, with defined inventory norms and buffer stock strategies.  In emerging markets, B2B production is based on confirmed orders to align supply with demand and prevent inventory build-up. For direct-to-market sales, inventory is managed using market-specific systems with predefined stock levels and buffer stock requirements aligned to local demand. It implements supplier diversification strategies in India by reducing dependency on Chinese suppliers, promoting domestic API manufacturing, identifying alternate sources for high-value and single-source APIs, and investing in in-house API production. It mitigates substandard and falsified products by verifying suppliers through GMP audits and reports cases to relevant stakeholders.

Includes elements to address appropriate use across its business practices. Cipla partly decouples incentives for its sales agents from sales volume targets. Less than 1% of variable pay is linked to sales volume targets. However, Cipla does not specify which other measures it links its incentives to. Through its global public policy, Cipla ensures ethical interactions with HCPs, and for certain interactions it sets limits for transfers of value (ToVs). While Cipla abides by disclosure requirements, it does not voluntarily disclose ToVs publicly in countries where it is not mandated to by law, or by other codes of practice. Cipla does not apply its public policy to third parties working on its behalf and it is unclear if this is the case for its sales incentive plan.

Active in 1 national AMR surveillance programme. While Cipla is not assessed for its activities in AMR surveillance as a generic medicine manufacturer, its involvement in 1 AMR surveillance programme was identified during the period of analysis. Cipla collaborated with JMI Laboratories for the 'Plazomicin Surveillance Studies', which was part of its postmarketing surveillance requirements and ended in December 2023. The programme covered 8 genera of bacterial pathogens, 14 antibacterial medicines and 1 country. Aggregated data was shared through poster presentations at international conferences, funded by Cipla. The methods used to collect surveillance data are partially clear, including: which breakpoints are used and which healthcare facilities are selected.