Glenmark Pharma: A Healthy Dose Of Growth

The company that emerged as India’s third fastest growing company in the Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 9,999 crore turnover category in BW Businessworld’s Fastest Growing Companies list 2017, says its strategic roadmap is completely synergised with its business, and its aim is to move up the value chain to become an innovation-led company with a solid foundation in the generics business.

According to chairman and managing director Glenn Saldanha, the company’s primary objective has always been to facilitate its evolution from a generics organisation to a fully-integrated, globally commercialised pharmaceuticals company with innovative products. Glenmark has always focussed on long-term growth strategy, while meeting short-term growth objectives. As a result, it has always invested in various R&D projects that have a very long gestation period. For example, it has invested in innovative and specialty R&D.

“One of the primary reasons why we have been able to maintain a high growth rate is because of our focus in certain key therapeutic areas, mainly in dermatology and respiratory in the global generic space. Today, over 50 per cent of our revenue comes from these two segments. Also, we had taken a very broad view of markets and stayed focused on India, the US and emerging markets. The year-on -year growth in emerging markets has helped us to maintain our growth rate. Further, we continued to leverage our R&D capabilities to launch differentiated products across all these key regions. We are one of the few players to launch products in certain molecules, rather than being the cheapest player in the crowded space,” says Saldanha.

Glenmark, which has graduated to a global organisation in a very short span with its expanded manufacturing footprint, international operations and global employee base, reported a 276.08 per cent rise in revenue since 2012. Not just that, its net profit over the period grew almost double this number due to higher margins on niche products. Glenmark’s profit after tax rose 453.50 per cent in the last four years.

But retaining the growth rates is a task. The company sees challenges such as pricing erosion in developed markets, price control in emerging markets, supply chain consolidation in the US, and increased scrutiny by regulatory bodies across all markets.

That said, “Glenmark has always stayed ahead of the curve. Presently, we have a strong pipeline of products in the US that primarily consists of differentiated products. We have built a robust India business and have set up a strong foundation for our future growth. Today, Glenmark is one of the fastest growing companies in the pharma market. The company will continue to focus on segments where we operate and will continue to outperform the industry growth rate,” says Saldanha.

According to market studies, healthcare spending is likely to touch $1.4 trillion by 2020 — mainly on the back of growth in emerging markets which are expected to consume the largest number of products, around two-thirds of the global medicine volumes. Therefore, while there are short-term hardships, the big picture seems to be optimistic.