NEW DELHI – The domestic pharmaceutical retail market is showing the strongest signs yet of shifting from price-led to demand-led growth. Volume growth exceeded 3% in June, the first time in 24 months after hovering between 1-2% during the first five months of the year.Encouraged by the strong trend during January-June, the growth outlook for the industry is being revised upwards from the previous 8-9% level to over 11% this year, Sheetal Sabally, vice president at Pharmarack, a market research firm, told TOI.Last year, the pharmaceutical retail market registered a growth of 8%. For most of 2024 and 2025, volume growth remained in negative territory, before turning positive this year.This trend typically indicates more patients being brought in for treatment and stronger uptake of existing treatments, rather than growth being driven largely by price increases and the launch of new drugs.Data obtained from Pharmarac showed that the market growth of over Rs 2.5 lakh crore in June was driven by higher sales of lipid-lowering and cardiac therapies, reflecting faster diagnosis and treatment of heart-related diseases. Treatments for heart and metabolic diseases, nutrition, pain management, dermatology and gynecology showed significant improvement compared to six months ago, according to the data.The organized retail pharmaceutical market recorded a value growth of over 13%, led by all therapeutics which recorded strong growth. Antineoplastic (anti-cancer) drugs and vaccines stood out, recording double-digit growth in both value and unit sales, reflecting strong underlying demand rather than pricing alone.Furthermore, chronic therapies continued to outperform the overall market, highlighting continued demand, primarily driven by the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases.