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BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), one of the top mid-sized multinational pharmaceutical companies based in Rhein, Germany, has joined the list of global drug firms lining up to tap the potential of the Rs 60,000 crore Indian pharmaceutical market. Unlike most other big pharma companies, the 100 per cent privately held company, with a turnover of 13.2 billion euros in 2011, is looking to achieve organic growth in India by selling its own patented medicines rather than foraying into the turf of generics or copycats of patented drugs with big bang acquisitions. "Traditionally our growth is based on innovation led patented products and acquisitions are not in our DNA", says Engelbert C. Tjeenk Willink, member of the board of managing directors at BI. BI set up operations in India with an office in Mumbai in 2003 and has been slowly testing Indian waters, despite its apprehensions on India's patent regime. Now it sells about five products in the country with revenues of Rs 150 crore. These are Actilyse and Aggrenox for prevention of strokes, Mirapex for treatment in Parkinson's disease and cardiovascular drugs Metalyse for acute myocardial infarction and Micardis for hypertension. At present about 400 people are employed in India and most of them were recruited in the recent years, says Sharad Tyagi, managing director of Boehringer Ingelheim India. BI will soon launch Pradaxa, a blockbuster cardiovascular blood thinner drug useful for prevention of strokes in patients suffering from a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. The company is also planning to launch Trajenta, this year in India, indicated for glycaemic control for Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. This will be marketed through an alliance with another global drug major Eli Lilly, which has a good market share in India in the field of diabetes solutions. Some of BI's old products are currently marketed in India by Zydus Cadila through a licensing agreement, as part of Zydus's German Remedies acquisition in 2002-03 from a clutch of German drug companies."These licensing terms will expire next year and we are evaluating options ", says Willink. Considering the nature of the Indian market, BI will adopt a differential pricing strategy to help its drugs reach more people, he adds. About half the global sales of BI are from the US and the rest are distributed between Europe and Asia Pacific. Their grand entry into India is part of the strategy to tap the BRIC countries. BI entered China a few years ago and currently employs over 3000 people. India will also witness a similar growth plan, says Philipp von Lattorff, vice president, emerging markets at BI. "We have a rich pipeline of drugs under development and we will launch them in the Indian market in the coming years", says Willink, who states that sustainable growth is the philosophy of the company.  But to sustain and grow big in the Indian market, BI will have to follow an aggressive organic growth strategy, as the Indian market is already flooded with an estimated 70 patented drugs and thousands of generic drugs.