Pharma/ Healthcare..Is it truely recession proof?

yes indeed pharma industry also suffers frm the economic slow down or recession in contry like ours as we indian still take health care expenditure as a economic burden in our  domestic budget. we only go to doctors when we have extra money in our pockets barring real emergencies.otherwise we have tandency to delay our routine checkups,and medications.

In India, our industry being at a phase of development where DPCO structures that stangled the industry, new investments in R&D, opening up of US to our   products, NDAs (which China is not willing to accept for generics being manufactured or duplicated shameless), has opened a huge opportunity window for Indian firms.

I remember simple anti-biotics selling for 25-40 Rs. in India - costing around 275 - 300 Rs. in neighboring Pakistan a decade back. Of course around that time, the foreign company used to hold 80% stocks and only 20% was tradeable  for which there used to be heavy demand, leading to P/Es being around 45-50 range multiples while the BSEindex would be range bound between 9 to max 20.

Indian pharma is working around certain niches and around products that are out of their patent timeframe windows. The OTC and food supplement industry is yet to open up, with associated NLM chains with trained educated sales force. Opportunity is big, it is huge and many companies like AMWAY, other similar Singapore / Malaysia based companies, are test marketing feeling the markets. Most of them do feel tremendously optimistic and are working to build a core size.

Give it a cuple of years more but for those who are moving in now,  profits will be enormous ...

Pharma/ healthcare are not totally recession proof. Look at what has happened to the more specialistic aspect of pharma...One reads frequently that most hospitals dealing with superspecialities have very few patients.  People are visiting generalists to save big bucks.  Functions like cosmetic surgeries, cosmetic dentistry etc has been very badly hit.  Also cheaper equivalents of expensive drugs is on the rise.  So yes recession is taking some toll in the pharma fiels too.  As Deepa mentioned and I agree that Pharma fared less badly compared to the rest.

I dont agree with the fact that Pharma is truely recession proof.I feel we are just talking b'coz IT is hit and not the Pharma vertical.

I feel the recession proof for Heath care and Pharma is more comparitive.  Verticals like IT , Banking, Finance were worst affected during the recession period. So in comparision , the market felt pharma is doing well.  

To be more precise, Pharma fared less badly than anyone else.