India has emerged as a global leader across the GCC ecosystem, and its expanding life sciences GCC network signals a decisive shift in how pharmaceutical and biotech organisations run high-value operations. Companies increasingly view India as a strategic base for discovery, development, and digital innovation, not just an extension of support functions. Scientific talent, technology maturity, and a strong ecosystem now position India to take on advanced mandates such as drug discovery, digital therapeutics, Real-World Evidence (RWE) analytics, and AI-driven decisioning. This evolution marks a new phase where innovation, compliant operations, and scale naturally converge.
five pillars of life sciences GCCs
India’s rise as a global life sciences hub reflects a movement away from transactional work toward globally owned scientific and digital capabilities. Across drug development, regulatory operations, medical affairs, and commercial analytics, these five pillars define how GCCs deliver enduring value.
strengthening the talent base
India’s multi-disciplinary talent pool forms the foundation of its leadership in global capability centres. Scientific researchers, technologists, data specialists, and clinicians increasingly come together to build integrated teams capable of solving complex R&D and commercial challenges. This blend of expertise, strong academic pipelines, and AI-ready skill sets enables life sciences GCCs to deliver solutions that shape global decisions rather than simply support them.
modernising operating models
Life sciences organisations now adopt agile, outcome-oriented operating models that give GCC teams greater ownership of global processes. These models encourage shared accountability for quality, compliance, and innovation while shortening development cycles across regulatory, medical, and commercial teams. As a result, decision-making becomes faster, more transparent, and better aligned with enterprise priorities.
building future-ready capabilities
Life sciences GCCs in India invest heavily in next-generation capabilities that support the evolving needs of the pharma R&D GCCs. Digital clinical trials, RWE analytics, pharmacovigilance automation, and AI-led modelling now sit at the core of everyday operations. Advanced platforms for precision medicine, molecular simulation, and predictive risk assessment further position India as a capability powerhouse that can scale new scientific approaches at speed.
driving enterprise transformation
Many organisations rely on life sciences GCCs as transformation engines that rewire traditional workflows across R&D, medical, regulatory, supply chain, and commercial functions. By redesigning processes, integrating automation, and adopting analytics-driven decisioning, pharma R&D GCCs streamline global operations and enhance auditability, speed, and operational resilience.
leveraging the ecosystem advantage
India’s ecosystem brings together universities, start-ups, digital health innovators, and technology partners to support continuous experimentation. This collaborative environment accelerates the development of new therapeutic models, digital solutions, and platform-led innovations, giving life sciences GCCs the ability to test, refine, and scale ideas faster than ever before.
Infosys BPM supports the complete GCC lifecycle through design-build-scale-transform models. Its specialised global capability centre services help life sciences organisations establish compliant, agile, and innovation-ready centres grounded in strong domain expertise and digital excellence.
key drivers turning India into a global life sciences hub
Policy support, digital strength, scientific depth, and a vibrant healthtech ecosystem power India’s ascent as a global life sciences hub. These drivers guide how organisations shape their life sciences GCC strategies.
- Policy momentum enabling scale: Robust regulations, government incentives, and industry-friendly frameworks attract global pharma enterprises seeking long-term, future-ready operations.
- STEM-led talent advantage: India’s strong scientific and engineering workforce supports advanced roles in clinical analytics, AI modelling, regulatory strategy, and digital safety.
- Digital infrastructure powering the pharma R&D GCCs: Cloud-native ecosystems, secure data platforms, and advanced engineering environments support sensitive R&D workflows and global compliance standards.
- Ecosystem maturity accelerating innovation: Collaborations with universities, deep-tech labs, and digital health start-ups drive rapid innovation cycles and support patient-centric solutions.
- Healthtech and GCC collaboration: Partnerships with healthtech innovators create new algorithms, digital therapeutics, and real-world data solutions that enhance development speed and clinical insight.
- Infrastructure built for global operations: Advanced campuses, resilient networks, and robust collaboration environments enable seamless coordination with global R&D and medical teams.
India’s life sciences GCC ecosystem is now moving toward full ownership of outcomes. Centres are evolving into “innovation twins” of global functions, where R&D, medical, and regulatory teams operate as integrated counterparts. AI-native talent, cross-functional scientific expertise, and platforms that enable predictive, compliant, and patient-centred operations are the key drivers behind this transformation. Their growing influence signals a future where India helps accelerate global therapeutic pipelines and shape next-generation healthcare solutions.
conclusion
India’s life sciences GCC landscape has reshaped how global organisations pursue scientific innovation, operational excellence, and regulatory confidence. These centres now drive high-value capabilities that influence global strategies, from R&D acceleration to digital health breakthroughs. As platforms mature and AI-driven, multi-disciplinary talent grows, India is poised to play an even more pivotal role in creating faster, safer, and more patient-focused outcomes for the global life sciences community.
Frequently asked question
- What advanced roles are global life sciences organisations now shifting to India beyond traditional GCC functions?
- How do life sciences GCCs in India ensure compliance and data security while handling sensitive global operations?
- What factors help India’s GCC ecosystem accelerate scientific innovation for global pharma and biotech enterprises?
- How are life sciences GCCs contributing to enterprise transformation across R&D, medical, regulatory, and commercial functions?
- What capabilities differentiate a next generation life sciences GCC from traditional offshore centres?
Organisations are increasingly moving scientific and digital work to India such as real world evidence analytics, AI based modelling, digital therapeutics development, clinical insight generation, and predictive research operations. This expansion reflects a shift toward India playing a central role in global scientific strategy rather than only supporting established workflows.
GCCs follow strict governance frameworks, controlled digital environments, and globally aligned quality standards. Secure data platforms, validated workflows, and continuous audit readiness support compliant operations across clinical, regulatory, and medical functions. This ensures global teams can rely on India based centres for sensitive decision making.
A strong technical workforce, growing AI maturity, trusted research partnerships, and a collaborative network of universities and digital health innovators enable rapid experimentation. These elements help life sciences GCCs test new therapeutic ideas, refine digital solutions, and deploy advanced platforms faster than traditional operating models.
GCCs streamline workflows by integrating automation, engineering new processes, and applying analytics driven insights. Their cross functional teams redesign activities end to end which improves auditability, speeds decision making, and strengthens operational resilience across global value chains.
Next generation centres combine scientific depth, digital engineering, AI based decision frameworks, and advanced platforms for clinical and commercial innovation. They operate as strategic partners that own outcomes, design global solutions, and influence enterprise strategy rather than only providing transactional support.
