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Once a promising category at the global Cannes Lions awards, India’s presence in Pharma has sharply declined in recent years. But 2025 brought a spark of hope: Lowe Lintas clinched a Silver Lion for its Dawai Reader campaign for Alkem Laboratories, India’s first metal in Pharma since 2018.
To put things into perspective, India had didn’t win any metals in Pharma since 2019, and had zero shortlists in 2024 and 2023. This year, Dawai Reader managed two shortlists and converted one, breaking the dry spell. Ironically, this creative dip coincides with a time of global focus on Pharma post-COVID, growth in scale, but not in creative recognition.
To decode the trend, we reached out to one of India’s most awarded specialist agencies - Medulla Communications, which made history by winning Healthcare Agency of the Year at Cannes Lions in 2016. According to Praful Akali, Founder & Managing Director of Medulla Communications, the drop isn’t due to a lack of creativity but a strategic pause. He shared, “I don't think there's been a creative decline in Indian pharma advertising at all. What’s happened is that specialist agencies like us and McCann Health simply stepped back from entering awards post-COVID. The focus shifted to commercial stability. We’ve not been entering Cannes, not because the work isn’t strong, but because we chose to prioritise business.”
The Pharma Lions were introduced in 2014, alongside the Health & Wellness Lions, to honour creativity in a highly regulated sector. India performed strongly between 2016 and 2018, with Medulla Communications leading the charge. In its 2015 Cannes debut, the agency earned five shortlists and a Bronze for The Spinning Living Room (Janssen), ranking #3 Healthcare Agency of the Year. In 2016, it topped the list with 2 Golds, 2 Silvers, and 3 Bronzes across three campaigns, followed by a #2 ranking in 2017 with two Silvers for Last Laugh (IAPC).
Akali also highlighted that the Juries have become increasingly particular, especially when it comes to pharma. “In this space, real-world impact is critical. Work that goes beyond brand visibility and creates tangible change in people’s lives tends to be rewarded more. As a result, solutions often get recognized more than just communication pieces. That’s typically been the trajectory for pharma.” he said.
In contrast, the Healthcare category (often confused with Pharma) has shown relative consistency. Over the past decade, India has secured Grand Prix, multiple metals, and frequent shortlists in Health & Wellness. So, why does India seem to thrive in healthcare and falter in Pharma?
“Consumer brands can’t enter Pharma. That space is limited to pharma and medical device brands,” explained Akali. “Mainline agencies do well in Health because they work with broader, consumer-facing themes. But when it comes to cracking award-winning Pharma work, it’s still the domain of specialist agencies like ours.”
He also clarified that while Cannes maintains separate juries for Pharma and Health & Wellness, their combined wins contribute to the Healthcare Agency of the Year title.
Despite the pause, Akali hints at a return to the awards circuit. “At Medulla, we’re planning to reinvest in awards, now that we’re commercially stable, and I believe many specialist agencies will return to the awards circuit in the next couple of years."
As specialist agencies gear up for a return to the awards stage, India’s creative journey in Pharma may just be entering a promising new phase.
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