India’s Gene Therapy Opportunity Primer

Karuna Jain and Nehil Agrawal

Apr 16, 2025

Over the last decade, gene therapy has gone from being an experimental idea to becoming a clinical reality. The US FDA has approved 23 therapies so far, with 15 of them coming in just the past four years. This shows how quickly both the science and delivery platforms are advancing. With new approaches, delivery methods, and manufacturing improvements, the field is growing steadily. But even with this progress, access is still a major challenge. Most treatments are priced between one to three million dollars, which puts them out of reach for most people. And cost isn’t the only issue—long development timelines, complex delivery, and limited infrastructure make it hard for many regions to catch up. In emerging markets especially, gene therapy still feels distant, both medically and financially.

India is starting to shift that picture. Two gene therapies have already been approved here, at prices nearly one-tenth of what they cost globally. This shows that advanced science doesn’t always have to come with a high price tag. India’s strengths in affordable healthcare delivery, its growing base of scientific talent, and early government support have created a solid starting point. The focus now is on building a full ecosystem—from research and vector manufacturing to large-scale production and delivery—that can serve both local and global needs.
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View the full primer on India’s gene therapy opportunity

Primer: Gene Therapy

For years, the bottleneck in this space was regulatory uncertainty. But this chart tells a different story. What we’re seeing now is the result of platform stability, clearer clinical endpoints, and repeatable delivery mechanisms. The science has matured enough to warrant consistent approvals. What this also means is that the focus for the next generation of startups will shift—from proving the science to scaling the business. In this new phase, execution, cost control, and efficiency of delivery mechanisms will matter as much as clinical innovation.

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While a lot of attention is on delivery vectors, the more interesting signal is where approvals are clustering. Oncology still dominates, but rare diseases are catching up—and they might offer a faster path to commercialisation. Rare genetic disorders may offer a clearer clinical endpoint, regulatory support, and often, a motivated patient community.

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India has shown before that it can take complex healthcare innovations and make them work at scale. We’ve seen this with generics and vaccines. In gene therapy too, there's a chance to do something similar. Costs are lower, the talent pool is growing, and there's a large group of patients who need these treatments but don’t have access yet. The government has also started to play a more active role, whether it’s through rare disease policies, funding support, or early steps toward regulatory clarity. If these efforts continue, India could become a key player in how gene therapies are built and delivered.

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We at Enzia Ventures are excited to partner with founders, researchers, and operators building in this space. Whether you're working on enabling platforms, delivery models, or next-gen therapies, we’d love to support your journey and help scale impact.
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