BW Communities

Articles for Pharma

Panacea Biotec In 10-Yr Pact With Osmotica Of US

Delhi-based drug firm Panacea Biotec has entered into a 10 year collaboration agreement with Osmotica Pharmaceutical, USA, for late phase development and marketing of high end generic medicines. Eighteen products from Panacea’s research pipeline will initially be part of the pact, with a provision to add more.The products, which belong to the therapeutic categories that enjoy approximately $25-billion market in the US, will be developed and marketed on a 50:50 partnership basis, Rajesh Jain, joint managing director, Panacea said.Under the agreement, Panacea will be in charge of product identification, research, development and manufacturing while Osmotica would lead product registration, legal matters, marketing, sales and distribution in the US and key foreign markets. “The collaboration is based on a 50:50 risk, investment and profit sharing by both companies. Panacea will receive initial research fee from Osmotica and, as the research progresses, milestone payments representing 50 per cent of the development cost”, Jain said.The companies expect to file the first product in its research pipeline for regulatory approval next year. “We expect to launch the first product developed under the collaboration in 2015”, Forrest Waldon, CEO, Osmotica said.According to Jain, the partnership is unique as it is trying to develop a highly complex category of products that will require clinical trials under US law before being given marketing approval. “It is not just vanilla generic that require only bio-equivalance studies for regulatory approval. We are working on novel drug delivery systems and nanoparticle based drug delivery platforms”, he said.The research collaboration is in line with Panacea’s long-term objective to diversify its product portfolio from predominantly vaccines to other medicines. Panacea had registered a loss last year after WHO suspended its approval towards its key product, oral polio vaccine. The vaccine is expected to be back in the WHO approved list soon.Panacea shares rose to a month’s high to close at Rs 107.25 a share on Bombay Stock Exchange today after the announcement.Privately held Osmotica is a speciality pharmaceutical company focusing on neurology and central nervous system based drugs. 

Read More
India Revokes Roche's Patent On Hepatitis C Injection

The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has revoked the first product patent India had granted on a medicine after the country amended its patent laws in 2005. The patent that got revoked on 2 November pertains to the Hepatitis C injection Pegasys (pegylated interferon alfa-2a) of Swiss pharmaceutical major F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Roche). The company had received the patent for Pegasys in 2006.The decision was based on a post (patent) grant opposition filed by Sankalp, an organisation that provides treatment and rehabilitation support for injecting drug users. The civil society group had challenged the patent with technical and legal aid from the HIV/AIDS Unit of Lawyers Collective.“We hope that the absence of patent barrier will spur generic competition to bring down the price of this much-needed drug for those suffering from Hepatitis C. We also hope that the Government will now take concrete steps to start providing access to this medicine. It is unacceptable that people are dying due to Hepatitis C because they cannot afford to buy the medicine,” Eldred Tellis, Director of Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, who had challenged the patent, said.It is estimated that 10–12 million people in India, including 50 per cent of injecting drug users nationally and 90 per cent of such addicts in the northeast, are infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Left untreated, Hepatitis C can lead to liver cirrhosis, liver cancer or liver failure. Hepatitis C is especially of concern for those co-infected with HIV, as HIV-HCV co-infection leads to increased rates of disease progression."Patients with chronic Hepatitis C, who need a six-month course of treatment of Roche’s pegylated interferon alfa2a, have to purchase it at a cost of approximately Rs 4,36,000 (available at a discounted price of Rs 3,14,496). Again, it has to be taken in combination with ribavarin, which alone costs Rs 47,160", Lawyers Collective states. "This victory will facilitate early entry of generics which is likely to lower the prices. If this happens, millions suffering from Hepatitis C, both in India and globally, will benefit", Anand Grover, senior counsel and Director of Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit said.Despite Sankalp’s case that Roche’s claims did not satisfy the patentability requirements under Indian law, in 2009, the Patent Office rejected the post-grant oppositions filed by Sankalp and an Indian company and upheld the validity of Roche’s patent. Sankalp then filed an appeal before the IPAB challenging this decision.Before the IPAB, Roche also challenged Sankalp’s standing to file the post-grant opposition as well as the appeal. Roche argued that because Sankalp was not a business competitor or a researcher in the sector, it could not have challenged its patent at all. Sankalp argued that its members were directly affected by Hepatitis C as well as that it represented a community of drug users who are particularly at risk to Hepatitis C. The IPAB observed that “public interest is a persistent presence in intellectual property law” and also held that it was against public interest to “allow unworthy patents to be on the Register”. Holding that “the appellant who works for the community which needs the medicine, is definitely ‘a person interested’”, the IPAB noted that a successful challenge would “break the monopoly” and “bring the drug within reach of the community for whom it works, not only by reduction in cost, but also because of increase in supply”, Lawyers Collective said.“We are happy that the IPAB has recognised the element of public interest in setting aside undeserving patents and held that patients’ groups, who are directly impacted by patents on medicines, can challenge granted patents. This will be of import as concerned patients’ groups will now have better clarity in challenging patents on medicines for HIV, cancer and other diseases.” Grover said.IPAB decisions can be challenged in the Supreme Court. 

Read More
Men Of Substance

It’s a business dictum that when uncertainty is high, you don’t dig big holes. Companies in two industries that may be in big holes just now are telecom and power. So one has to wonder: does it make strategic sense for the promoters of Sun Pharmaceuticals, the largest drug company by market capitalisation to diversify into those sectors?On October 26,  Sudhir V Valia, the brother-in-law of Dilip Shanghvi, managing director and founder of Sun Pharma, hit the headlines by entering into a joint venture with Norwegian telecom firm Telenor; Valia’s Lakshdeep Investments & Finance will be Telenor’s partner in their new venture Telewings Communications, which will participate in the forthcoming 2G spectrum auction.Lakshdeep Investments & Finance holds just over one per cent of Sun Pharma. Media reports cited InGovern Research Services, a consultancy firm that advises investors on corporate governance and proxy voting, as saying that Lakshdeep’s 26 per cent equity in the Telenor joint venture is in the range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 crore. The firm’s current funding sources amount to Rs 1000- Rs 1200 crore; the balance will have to be loans, Ingovern adds.Earlier this month, Sun Pharma’s board approved a resolution that would allow the company to raise Rs 8,000 crore in loans; the firm also has about Rs 6,000 crore in cash and cash equivalents on its books. So there has been speculation among industry observers that this could be used to part-finance the telecom business.But Sun Pharma denies the move. "We don't have any plans to fund Lakshdweep Investments,” says a company spokesman. “The resolution passed by the board was an enabling resolution; we will be seeking shareholder approval to raise the money.”"This is baseless speculation, and at this point of time even I do not know how much assets we (Telewings) are going to get in the auction (2G spectrum),” says Valia. “We have to wait till the auction to decide how much I will have to invest." He says that he has various funding options available in his personal capacity to complete the deal.In fact, both the telecom and power generation ventures – more on that later – are personal investments of Shanghvi (he is worth $9 billion, according to Forbes magazine) and Valia, not part of the company. Is it possible that these moves were in the offing for quite some time? A few months ago, in May this year, Dilip Shanghvi stepped down as chairman of the company in May paving way for Israel Markov, the former CEO of Teva Pharma to become chairman. Valia also stepped down as chief financial officer (CFO) to make way for Uday Baldota, another long-serving Sun Pharma executive.Readers may recall that a year ago, Shanghvi made the surprising announcement that he was setting up a power generating business with a 2,600 MW plant in Andhra Pradesh. He also then picked Valia to spearhead that venture, Alpha Infra Projects.But since that time, the scenario has changed somewhat. "We have the various clearances in place and are waiting for coal linkages and other problems related to the thermal power segment of the sector to settle down to launch this project," says Valia.Will there be other such investments? Valia doesn’t duck the question. “We are looking at good opportunities (to invest) and that may take time,” he says. But for Shanghvi, Sun Pharma will continue to be the center of his solar system.

Read More
Pharma Cos To Take Rs 10K- Cr Hit If Drug Prices Capped

The pharmaceutical industry will take a Rs 10,000-crore hit in its domestic revenues if the central government approves the suggestion of a group of ministers (GoM) to control the prices of all essential drugs sold in the country.After a three-year-long deliberation, the GoM headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has recommended a formula for capping the prices of all 348 drugs mentioned under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). The Cabinet will look into the GoM recommendations soon.The plan is to take the weighted average price (WAP) of all brands having at least 1 per cent or more market share by volume as the ceiling price of that particular drug. “The average price reduction will be about 11 per cent. However, price reduction of some medicines for many large companies, both domestic and foreign, will be as high as 75 per cent. A study shows that prices of 60 per cent of NLEM medicines will be reduced by more than 20 percent”, D G Shah, secretary general, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance says.The size of domestic pharmaceutical market is estimated to be around Rs 65,000 crore.Civil society groups that are lobbying for price control over medicines said the inclusion of all NLEM drugs under price control was a foregone conclusion as the Supreme Court had, while hearing one of the public interest litigations related to drug pricing, directed the government to ensure that all essential medicines come under price control. The exact manner in which the inclusion should happen was the only debate before the GoM.Speaking to reporters after the meeting on September 27, Pawar had said that the recommendations of the committee will be sent to the Cabinet for a final view within a week.“We acknowledge the rights of the government to make essential medicines available to the most vulnerable sections of society at affordable prices. The new proposal will have an impact on industry as the span of price controls will now increase to cover around 30 per cent of the pharmaceutical market. Still a market-based policy is a balanced formula and will help improve the availability of essential medicines for patients,” Ranjit Shahani, President, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India said.Incidentally, Pawar had headed a previous GoM on the same issue during UPA 1 also. The first GoM, set up in January 2007 had held four meetings before the government’s term got over but arrived at no conclusions.NLEM list is a selection of medicines that are most commonly used in all levels of healthcare - primary, secondary and tertiary. While 61 medicines out of the 348 are exclusively used in tertiary care, 181 are common across all levels. The categories covered include anesthesia, analgesics, antipyretics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, anti-allergic, anti-poisoning, anti-epileptics, anti-infectives, anti-bacterials, anti-cancer, anti-AIDS, vaccines and medicines used in palliative care among others. 

Read More
Novartis Gears Up For Legal Fight On Glivec

Novartis is gearing up for the final round of legal battle to get patent protection for its cancer drug Glivec in India.The Supreme Court will start a two-month long hearing on the case from September 11. The Basel, Switzerland based multinational drug major is challenging a few crucial provisions in the Indian Patent Law on patentability criteria. The ongoing legal battle for the last seven years had attracted international attention.Those who campaign against Novartis say the case is an attempt to threaten the availability of affordable medicines for the world’s poorest patients. Novartis says its attempts are to protect the rights related to innovation made by spending massive money on research and development.Following the rejection of its patent application for Glivec, Novartis had filed a case in May 2006 challenging the patent office’s decision at the Madras High Court. After an year, the court directed the case to be heard by the Indian Patent Appellate Board (IPAB). In July 2009, the IPAB turned down Novartis' patent claim and ratified the decision of the patent office.IPAB observed that  the drug cannot be granted patent under Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Law,  since the drug is not a new invention and is only a minor tweak of an older compound that already has apatent, and is therefore only an incremental innovation (‘ever greening’ of patents) without significantly enhancing therapeutic efficacy.  Patent experts say Novartis’s arguments to win the case in the apex court are likely to revolve around the interpretation on ‘enhancing therapeutic efficacy’, rather than trying to shot down Section 3 (d) clause of the Indian patent law.Novartis says Glivec, whose chemical name is imatinib mesylate, is not an ‘evergreen’ drug and had got patent in 40 countries, including China, Russia, Taiwan and all major developed countries.“We developed the mesylate salt of imatinib and then the beta crystal form of imatinib mesylate to make it suitable for patients to take in a pill form that would deliver consistent, safe and effective levels of medicine. This process, which took years, was more than just an incremental improvement – it was a breakthrough -- and certainly cannot be interpreted as "evergreening”, says a fact-file on Glivec published by Novartis.Novartis’ decision to continue the legal battle in Supreme Court is despite a global campaign to drop the case. In February, an international non-governmental organisation coalition, which included Oxfam, Act Up and Health Gap, had urged Novartis to drop the Glivec patent case in India.“What is at stake goes far beyond the only granting of a patent for this anti-cancer drug. This legal challenge aims in fact at weakening a legitimate and invaluable public health clause of the Indian law, section 3(d), which intends to limit the multiplication of patents on trivial changes to existing medicines, a common practice by multinational pharmaceutical companies”, says Patrick Durisch, health programme coordinator of the ‘Berne Declaration’, which asked Novartis to drop the case.“With net sales of $4.7 billion in 2011, Novartis can easily survive without a patent for Glivec in India, whilst its designated successor, Tasigna (Nilotinib-a blood cancer drug), was already granted one in India”, he says.Whether Novartis wins the case in Supreme Court or not, the battle for Glivec patent will remain as one of the longest and most controversial intellectual property debates on medicines in India. 

Read More
Patent Travails

Multinational drug majors’ concern against India’s patent rules now has another example to highlight. On September 14, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) in Chennai dismissed German drug maker Bayer's appeal to stay the Compulsory License (CL) issued to Hyderabad based Natco to manufacture kidney cancer drug sorafenib - branded as Nexavar.In a landmark decision in March, the patent controller had issued India’s first Compulsory License allowing Natco to sell its generic drug at Rs 8,800 or less for a month's treatment and pay 6 per cent royalty to Bayer on the total sales. The patent office had observed the German firm was selling the drug at Rs 2.8 lakh a month. The CL was granted on grounds of affordability to the patients.  As per Section 85 of the Indian Patent Act, a CL can be issued if the patented invention is not available ‘at an affordable price to the public’. The CL was granted considering factors like the ‘drug was not reasonably priced’, ‘was not adequately available’, and was ‘not manufactured in the country’.It is estimated that over 30,000 patients in India are suffering from advanced kidney and renal cancer."The right of access to affordable medicine is as much a matter of right to dignity of the patients and to grant stay at this juncture would really affect them and further, it would in effect amount to deciding the main petition itself. Though this is not a reason why we are not granting stay, yet this is an additional factor,” the IPAB said in its 17- page order.The IPAB is yet to take a decision on Bayer’s appeal against the CL granted by the patent office.Sorafenib product patent was granted in India in 2007. This patent was opposed by Cipla at post grant level and launched its generic sorafenib. The patent infringement case filed by Bayer against Cipla is pending at the Delhi High court. Bayer had earlier tried to prevent generic launches of the drug by filing a separate litigation demanding patent-product approval linkage, which was rejected by Delhi high court and by the apex cout in appeal. Earlier, Bayer’s writ petition challenging controller decision on Natco’s CL is disposed of by Bombay high court and asked Bayer to file in Delhi high court.Market sources say Cipla, which is fighting a case against Bayer for launching its generic version of Nexaver, also sells the drug at less than Rs 7,000 for a month’s treatment. Natco is also selling the drug at a discounted price to tap the Rs 22-25 crore market for kidney cancer. Bayer had also offered to sell the drug at about Rs 30,000 per month.“Now the option left before Bayer is to approach the Supreme Court to revoke the decision of IPAB and get a stay”, said a patent attorney, who had represented domestic companies in some of the earlier patent cases.  Recently, the Delhi High Court had ruled in favour of Cipla against Swiss drugmaker Roche, over its cancer drug Tarceva. In another high-profile legal battle, Novartis is challenging the Indian Government against the decision of the Indian patent office not to grant patent for its cancer drug Glivec. Novartis is also questioning Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act which says ‘frivolous" inventions as non patentable. The case is now before the Supreme Court. With innovator companies beginning to taste domestic industry-friendly decisions by India’s patent office, it is likely that more patent litigations will take place in the future. 

Read More
No Clear Picture On Pharma FDI

Thanks to the fierce pulls and pressures from civil society groups, domestic pharmaceutical industry and the global drug multinationals in different directions, uncertainties surrounding India's policy outlook on foreign direct investment (FDI) in domestic pharmaceutical sector is far from over.Nine months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his senior cabinet colleagues decided to give Competition Commission of India (CCI) the key responsibility of monitoring foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in brown-field pharmaceutical projects, India's policy outlook on pharma FDI is back to the drawing board.A new committee set up by the government to understand the progress of the implementation of the proposed changes in the pharma FDI policy has now favoured the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) of the commerce ministry over CCI to clear brown-field investments in pharmaceuticals. The earlier decision was to ask CCI to approve all brown-field FDIs in pharma sector irrespective of its size. The new proposal is to allow investments up to 49 per cent without any restriction.Though the proposal to allow FDI up to 49 per cent in brownfield projects through automatic route was seen as a relaxation of the government's more stringent plan, the drug industry is awaiting the conditionality attached to this decision to understand its real implication.Ranjit Shahani, president, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) said that any policy which restricts freedom of trade and investment will further restrict capital flows. He felt that the current position of the committee "will not only have a chilling effect on FDI flows to the Pharma Industry but will also have a serious knock-on effect in other Industries – particularly since it is a reversal of a policy liberalisation which took place only 10 years ago"."Today, when the world is looking at India to kickstart the economy following changes at the centre this certainly is a retrograde step. We are seeing ghosts where there are no ghosts", Shahani said in an emailed response.According to officials, even when up to 49 per cent investment in domestic drug companies get cleared automatically, the foreign partner that will gain substantial shareholding in the company will have to assure the government that none of the essential drugs produced by the Indian company will be discontinued after the foreign investment. "They may also be asked to invest 5 per cent of their turnover in research and development relating to drug that address India specific health problems", the official said.The representatives of the domestic industry, who have been actively lobbying to restrict FDI in pharma – and thereby resist takeover attempts by foreign drug companies – expressed happiness over the government move, despite an apparent attempt to retain control only on transactions that result in majority stake sale."This is a good development because any restriction on brown field pharma projects will result in more Greenfield investments. It will create new assets in the country", D G Shah, secretary general, of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, the association of domestic drug firms, said.In a letter to Prime Minister on July 24, civil society thinktank, the Centre for Trade and Development (Centad), wanted the pharmaceutical sector to be considered as a strategic sector. It wanted a ban on all FDI investments in brown-field pharmaceutical sector.FDI in pharmaceuticals used to be unrestricted for almost a decade until the government decided to limit 100 per cent FDI to Greenfield investments and roping CCI to clear all brown field proposals last year.A six-month transition period was provided to CCI to equip itself and until then, FIPB was asked to clear all  brownfield investments in the pharma sector. It was expected that during this period, CCI will put in necessary enabling regulations for effective oversight on mergers and acquisitions to ensure that there is a balance between public health concerns and attracting FDI in the pharma sector.CCI is yet to be empowered to do this job and FIPB continues to handle the task of clearing brown-field pharma investments even today.

Read More
Biotech Sector Failing To Innovate

Despite a double digit rate of growth over the last five years, the Indian biotechnology sector is finding it difficult to launch new products that match global growth trends, the annual biotech report of consultancy Ernst & Young points out.The 26th edition of the report, Beyond Borders: global biotechnology report 2012 released on 10 July, stated that even with a CAGR 19.2 of per cent during 2007–2011, Indian biotech industry has concurrently been facing diverse challenges that have prevented the industry from transcending to the next level.Within the domestic market, companies have not been able to launch new products at a pace that they would have liked. Dealing with multiple regulatory bodies typically results in serious delays, the report says."Companies focused on innovation have not been able to make a sizeable impact on the industry. Many of them are facing funding constraints as the investor community has shied away from investing in early stage ventures. With the lack of funding, many innovative companies will be forced to shut shop or become service providers rather than innovators", it said."India is already facing stiff competition from China, Korea, Singapore, and more recently Malaysia, in terms of attracting investments from MNCs. This has been enabled due to better technological and scientific competence, better infrastructure, tax and duty exemptions, and easier regulatory procedures as compared to India",  Ajit Mahadevan, Partner, Ernst & Young said.The report also listed out various government initiatives, including the setting up of biotech parks and fiscal sops that have been initiated to strengthen the industry in the country.According to E&Y estimates, Indian biopharmaceutical industry constitutes 60 per cent of the biotech industry in India and grew at 21 per cent y-o-y to reach $2.3 billion in 2010–11. Vaccines, insulin, erythropoietin and monoclonal antibodies have been the mainstay of the biopharma segment."There is strong call for action for the government to act swiftly to carry out regulatory reforms, develop infrastructure and provide more incentives to the biotech industry to remain competitive and spur growth in the industry. The industry, on its part, needs to come up with a concerted action plan to utilize the available infrastructure and resources more efficiently and focus on nurturing innovation to take the biotech industry to new heights", Mahadevan states.

Read More
A Breather For Generic Lobby

The European Parliament on Wednesday rejected the proposal for an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which, if passed, could have had an adverse impact on generic medicine exports from countries such as India through European ports.Even in the absence of a law similar to ACTA, there were several instances when genuine Indian medicines in transit got confiscated in European ports on grounds of intellectual property violations. For long, India has been lobbying hard for the smooth passage of Indian generic medicines to developing countries in Africa and Latin America through European ports of transit.Developing nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa had expressed concern over provisions of the proposed ACTA as they feared the movement of genuine low-cost medicines through Europe could get affected.     Welcoming the European Parliament decision, International medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said the agreement could have limited access to quality generic medicines."We are relieved that the EU Parliament has struck down ACTA", said Aziz ur Rehman, Intellectual Property Advisor for the MSF Access Campaign. "The way it was written, ACTA would have given an unfair advantage to patented medicines, and restricted access to affordable generic medicines to the detriment of patients and treatment providers alike."ACTA was purported to be a shield against counterfeiting across a number of industries, including medicines, where it was held up as a means of blocking potentially harmful ‘counterfeit' medicines. MSF strongly supports efforts to ensure that generics meet accepted international standards. However, ACTA's overbroad definition of ‘counterfeiting' and its excessive enforcement provisions left too much room for error. Legitimately produced generic medicines could have been seized and detained, hindering access for people who rely on these medicines to survive, an MSF statement said.The stringent provisions in ACTA would also have targeted third parties — including treatment providers like MSF – by exposing them to the risk of punitive action in trademark and patent infringement allegations, it added.Following the rejection of ACTA, the European Commission should review similarly harmful intellectual property provisions being pursued in other agreements, including in free trade negotiations. One such current negotiation is with India, one of the world's biggest exporters of generic medicines, often referred to as ‘the pharmacy of the developing world', the statement said.

Read More
Web Exclusive: A Dose Of Authenticity

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.

Read More

Subscribe to our newsletter to get updates on our latest news