Background. Past, present and future of Intas

Transcription

1 Background Mr. Hasmukh K. Chudgar, is the Chairman of Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited. In the early 1980s, having witnessed the growing healthcare challenges, he envisioned a future of quality healthcare for people globally, and thus laid the foundations of Intas. Humble by heart, he has today, at the age of about 81, handed over the reins of the company to his sons. While he still makes the occasional visit to the Ahmedabad Headquarters, he is now inclined towards and increasingly involved in doing charity and promoting the fundamental philosophy of Ahimsa. Past, present and future of Intas In the early nineties, Binish Chudgar, Vice Chairman of the Company, first stepped into the offices of the company. Binish, an MBA from the S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research was then entrusted with leading the strategic growth and finance of the company. Since then, he has been at the forefront of making Intas a pharmaceutical major. Today, Intas is a leading global pharmaceutical company from India and one of the fasted growing healthcare companies worldwide with revenues of over $800 million and approaching the $1 billion mark in its near horizon. Intas products are sold in more than 70 countries worldwide. Almost 55% of the Intas group revenues come from international markets, particularly the developed markets of EU and US. The company has set up a network of subsidiaries, under the umbrella name of Accord Healthcare, for marketing and selling in the highly regulated EU, US, Canada, South Africa, Australia and other markets. It is this network that is driving the Intas growth story today along with its incessant progress in the Indian market. In 1996, the company commissioned its modern state-of-the-art, high capacity

2 production plant at Matoda. This plant received its first major International regulatory approval from TGA in 1998 followed by the MHRA in In 2001, Intas commenced its first supplies to Europe. From this point onwards there was no looking back. As the company consolidated its growth story for India, it also embarked on an ambitious exports strategy. Today Intas is ranked 12 th in the overall Indian pharmaceutical market and among the top 5 in the chronic segment, which is its main focus (Source: IMS India February, 2015 MAT figures). The company is working towards breaking into the top 10 in India in the near future. Intas runs multiple manufacturing facilities to cater to this growth. In addition to its Matoda plant, the company went on to establish another high capacity, state-of-the-art plant for the export market in This plant is located at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Ahmedabad. Intas also has a plant in the UK that deals with primary packing of oral solid dosage forms and secondary packing for injectable products. This facility gives ease of operation for importing, storage, and distribution of finished products across the EU region and follows all principles of GDP and GMP. Its Mexico facility comprises a betalactam plant that is used to manufacture dry injectables, dry suspensions, hard gelatin capsules and tablets. The plant's capabilities have been recently enhanced with the addition of a dedicated facility for solid orals dosage forms manufacturing of oncology products. Intas has been growing at about 27% CAGR over the last several years and it is expected that the company will maintain a similar growth rate for the next several years. While the past success has been phenomenal, the future shall be even brighter. The company is constantly expanding both its product portfolio and geographic reach. Investment in new technologies and new areas are constantly being evaluated and considered for the next level of growth. Additionally, the company is actively scouting for inorganic growth opportunities to fuel its growth and expand on its existing presence, particularly in the regulated markets of EU and US. Initial hurdles and how the company overcome them

3 While the growth curve of Intas since inception, has always been heading skywards, the recent turbulent global economic scenario presented several challenges. One of the company s strategies to hedge specific market risk is to have a diversified global presence. Intas has done this very successfully. It has divided its sales and marketing operations into 4 geographic verticals India, Europe, US and Rest of World. While Intas has established leadership in chronic segments such as CNS and Cardiovascular & Diabetes in India, the company is known for its range of products in Oncology and other hospital based therapeutic segments in the EU and US. This strategy has served the company well and has helped it maintain its growth over the years despite recessionary pressures. The Strategy behind the Success Intas success and growth is a direct influence of Intas extensive R&D capabilities, its manufacturing abilities and its people. Every year, the company invests around 6-7% of its revenues in R&D. Besides building the regular portfolio of generic products, Intas R&D is also focused on creating a pipeline of novel drug delivery technology based products and biologics and has invested over $125 million to develop and enhance its biosimilar capabilities over the past 8 years. Intas has already become the first company in the world to launch a nanoparticle based, targeted delivery Docetaxel, DoceAqualip, designed to significantly reduce the hypersensitivity of the drug among the cancer patients. Intas is also one of the pioneers of biosimilar products in India. It is now extending its biosimilars platform to the European and US markets. In 2014, Intas became the first company from India to manufacture and supply a biosimilar (Filgrastim) into the EU. On the manufacturing side, the company runs two state-of-the-art, ultrahigh capacity plants that manufacture both solid oral dosage form and parenterals for global markets. Both facilities are accredited by top global regulators such as USFDA, EMA, MHRA, TGA etc. In addition, the company runs 6 other plants in Gujarat and other locations in India to cater to the Indian market. It is also the first and only company in India to have its biologics manufacturing facility accredited by the European Health Authority. On the third axis of this success are its People. The company believes in good HR practices and in developing, rewarding

4 and promoting exceptional efforts. At the same time, the company is not shy of bringing in new talent and with it new ideas at all levels in the organization. Current Product Line Intas sells over 1000 products in the domestic market, spread over almost all therapeutic areas. Of these, 105 products are in the top 3 brands, another 74 in the top 5 brands and an additional 109 in the top 10 brands. These brands contribute to around 73% of Intas domestic turnover through their respective segments. Intas is the 2 nd largest company in India in CNS segment and 7 th largest in the cardio and diabetes space. The company is also rapidly expanding its Oncology, Nephrology and Rheumatology franchise among others. Intas sells about 150 products globally, which translates to more than 5000 registrations worldwide. In addition, it has a rich pipeline of products that have been filed for registration in EU, US and other countries, and an equally rich pipeline of products that is under development for global filing. This pipeline is continuously added to by identification of new products for development. Identification of new products A robust process of new product selection that is spearheaded and championed by the promoters themselves, is the backbone of Intas R&D. Inputs are gathered from the specific territories and products are selected for addition to the R&D pipeline on the basis of unmet medical needs, patent scenario, market assessment including any first to file opportunities and scientific challenges among other criteria. Each selected product is backed by a detailed business case and its strategic value to the company. In addition, specific and targeted in-licensing opportunities add to the portfolio of products. The differentiating factors Intas is one of the few companies from India that has made significant inroads into Europe. An early entrant, Intas today has the most extensive

5 network and the widest presence of any Indian pharmaceutical company in Europe. It has done so without neglecting other regulated markets such as US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand etc. Globally, Intas has established its equity primarily in the Oncology and hospital based therapeutic segments as well as the retail markets. Risk Mitigation Strategies: One of the key strengths of the company is backward integration into critical APIs for its strategic molecules. With a robust R&D group dedicated to development of key APIs, Intas has mitigated some of the risk associated with API supplies and it helps evade risks like short supply, particularly in the regulated markets where shortages could lead to significant penalties on the suppliers. Also as mentioned above, Intas has mitigated the geographical risk by creating 4 distinct geographical verticals. Today, the company s geographical reach spreads to over 70 countries across all habituated continents. As a company, Intas continues to invest in the future through R&D. In addition to API R&D and the proprietary platform of nanoparticle based targeted therapies, Intas is at the forefront of R&D in biosimilars and plasma-fractionated products. All of these are in addition to the normal generics R&D, which are the bread and butter of the company. Finally, all of the above is possible due to the management and leadership at Intas. In Binish Chudgar, the company has a strategic and visionary leader, who is always looking to what next. Binish has been instrumental in expanding Intas footprint globally. By nature, he is not risk averse and hence is the champion in the company for new technologies and strategic initiatives. While the revenue growth has been impressive, Intas is also creating value for its stakeholders. Over the last decade or so, Intas has had some private equity investment into the company. Intas enabled its first PE investor to exit at 12X gain within a period of about 5 years and recently it enabled its second PE investor, which had acquired its stake from the first one, to exit at almost 20X gain, again within about 5 years. Intas is also committed to its societal responsibilities. Over the years, Intas

6 has established Prathama, one of the largest stand-alone Blood Banks in India. Prathama was established in the year 2000 and is run as a not for profit / charitable institute. In a statement, Mr. Binish Chudgar said, While we have created one of India s leading pharmaceutical companies, we also take our corporate social responsibility very seriously. I am proud to say that Prathama was the first Blood Bank in the country that componentized all units of whole blood and offered its services without replacement. A practice now emulated by many. Prathama has been at the forefront of supplying blood components to the needy and poor of Gujarat. Intas Animal Health division is also ranked No.1 in terms of initiatives for Veterinary profession. The key people who visualise and implement strategies Intas top management consists of the best minds in the business. Mr. Binish Chudgar is at the helm of Intas domestic and global operations. As one of the reputed leaders in the pharmaceutical arena, it s his visionary skills that chart the path of progress for Intas through aggressive strategies and action-oriented ventures. Every decision from the top is planned and executed with flawless efficiency right through the last employee down the line. The collective commitment, expertise and ambition of the management have ensured Intas constant growth on all fronts. The Chudgar Family: Business and beyond The Chudgar family s philosophy revolves around faith and simplicity. They are committed to societal wellbeing and charity. Refraining from exuberant and luxuries of people of similar stature, they prefer actively participating in and initiating events centred on community welfare. Their business beliefs also emanate from their social and spiritual devotion. Working in unison, the Chudgar family is a harmony of business excellence. While Binish is the visionary in the family, his brother, Nimish Chudgar, brings to the table operational excellence and hands on knowledge of manufacturing and domestic operations, ably complementing Binish. In addition, their other brother, Urmish Chudgar, who himself is a haematologist-oncologist, helps identifying the unmet medical need perspective to the company.