The thought that people might be able to take a single pill to reduce multiple cardiovascular risk factors has generated a lot of excitement. Polycap, a capsule developed by Cadila Pharmaceuticals for the primary prevention of heart attacks and stroke, is claimed to be the first introduction in this direction. Cadila Pharmaceuticals is an integrated healthcare solutions provider with a pharmaceutical product basket covering anti-infective, gastrointestinal, analgesic, cardiovascular, respiratory and biotech drugs. ?We are striving hard to offer innovative research products for the masses at an affordable rate,? says Cadila Pharmaceuticals chairman IA Modi. In a recent interaction with Sudhir Chowdhary, Modi dwells on the company?s R&D focus, ongoing M&A activity in the Indian pharma industry and its frequent skirmishes with global regulatory agencies. Excerpts:
Of late, Indian pharmaceutical companies are becoming targets of acquisitions by global pharma majors. Does it augur well for the growth of the Indian pharma industry?
I feel that it is not in the national interest and it is a matter of concern that many companies that have been acquired, had enjoyed incentives, grants and soft loans from government and all these benefits will not be available to the country?s population at reasonable rates. The time has come when the government puts the condition that in case of the government assisted unit being sold out, all the benefits enjoyed should be refunded with 10% interest and then only, permission should be given for transfer.
How do you look at the ongoing mergers & acquisitions in the Indian pharma market? Do you see the domestic market evolving?
Let me assure you that Cadila Pharmaceuticals is not in that list as we consider our enterprise our child. As far as the Indian market is concerned, initially it will be affected because of mergers and acquisitions, but multinationals will definitely increase prices in times to come, whereas in India there are enough large sized companies like Cadila Pharmaceuticals and medium size organisations who can fill that vacuum by supplying quality products at economic price.
Won?t Indian companies simply become suppliers of generic drugs to global pharmaceutical companies?
At the moment, Indian pharma companies can play supplier?s role to global pharma companies, but in a decade or two, many new products for the first time in the world will be introduced by the Indian industry. Cadila Pharmaceuticals has a couple of products which are at the various stages of pre-clinical, Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials. Our Polycap for prevention of cardiovascular disease and Risorine with boosted Rifampicin are first in the world introductions.
What has been the response to Polycap capsule? Is it being marketed in India alone or globally too?
The response to Polycap has been very encouraging and every month the product is showing growth. At the moment, it is marketed in India only but within a couple of months, the dossier will be submitted to about six other countries where the registration process may take around 12 to 18 months.
What are some of the growth areas the company is investing in?
Cadila Pharmaceuticals is an integrated healthcare solutions provider with pharmaceutical product basket covering over 45 therapeutic areas that include cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, analgesics, haematinics, anti-infectives and antibiotics, respiratory agents, antidiabetics and immunologicals. Research and development, manned by more than 350 scientists and engineers from various disciplines has been at the core of all its initiatives in the realm of biotechnology, formulations, plant tissue culture, phytochemistry etc. This strong R&D forms the backbone of its manufacturing facilities at Dholka, Ankleshwar, Kadi and Hirapur in Gujarat; Samba in Jammu & Kashmir; and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
Cadila Pharmaceuticals has also entered into strategic alliances to broaden its horizons. The newly launched CPL Biologicals is a joint venture with Novavax, Inc. USA which will be developing and manufacturing vaccines, biological therapeutics and diagnostics in India. StemCyte India, which is into umbilical cord blood stem cells banking is a joint venture of Cadila Pharmaceuticals with StemCyte Inc. USA and Apollo Group.
Our focus has been on the diseases and epidemics prevalent in Indian subcontinent. The launch of Risorine is a recent example. TB shall be posing a major challenge in the third world and Cadila Pharmaceuticals is the first company in the world to develop and come out with an innovative product like Risorine with boosted Rifampicin where patient compliance and tolerance can be better at a lesser cost.
What are your initiatives in the oncology space?
In oncology, we have a casual existence in formulations as our in-house formulation plant is in the making and will be ready by third quarter of 2011. We have a new molecule which will be introduced for the first time in the world for the treatment of cancers like bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer and lung cancer.
Periodic actions by global regulatory agencies such as USFDA have raised questions on Indian companies? manufacturing, quality, and regulatory functions? Aren?t you concerned?
One is concerned for all the so-called actions which are not always as serious as they are projected. But as an entrepreneur, one has to be prepared for all such hurdles and I am sure that the Indian pharma industry as a whole would be able to stand against any such hurdle created. It will make us very stringent quality conscious. It is a blessing in disguise.
Pharma companies are looking at biotech for growth. What is Cadila?s strategy in this regard?
Cadila Pharmaceuticals has played a pioneering role in the Indian biotech space for over a decade and going forward aims to be a leading provider of high quality, affordable vaccines and biopharmaceuticals and diagnostic products through world-class research, development and innovative manufacturing to address current and future global health challenges.
The current opportunity estimated to be in the range of $25-30 billion is based on the fact that patent protection most of the first generation biotech-derived pharma products (biologics) have expired or are nearing expiration with the key indications being oncology, hormone/enzyme replacement, diabetes and inflammatory disorders.
The Indian pharma industry which has been focused on small molecule chemistry is now poised for an exponential growth in the biologics space much like what the chemistry-based enterprises experienced starting with mid 1980s.
