GSK Pharma trying to find out what ammunition is needed to grow: MD

MUMBAI: The Indian arm of British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is planning a major initiative to wrestle back ground it had conceded over the past few years. Until a few years ago, GSK held the top rank in India, but was steadily edged out by aggressive rivals, and it also lost market share in key drugs due to price cuts imposed by the government. However, top GSK officials asserted that a turnaround is in the works. “As a leadership team, we are trying to find out what ammunition is needed (to grow), what new capabilities are to be build,“ said Annaswamy Vaidheesh, GSK Pharma's newly appointed managing director, in his first interview after taking charge of the company.

“We don't want to be seen as a leading company that has been around, but as an innovative company that brings solutions, not just in metro cities but all across. This is the most exciting agenda that I am setting up.I am calling it fast forwarding the future,“ he explained. Given the way GSK had performed in the past three years, Vaidheesh's optimism is sorely needed. Experts say in the past three years, GSK not only failed to catch the Indian pharma gold rush, but its growth had trailed s the industry average. In 2014, GSK's generic drug sales fell 2% in the Indian pharma market to Rs 2,752 crore, when the overall industry grew 10%.

However, this year there's a slow uptick. Latest data from the All India Organization of Chemists and t Druggists Association shows a 5% growth for the company . But despite p the challenges of price cuts and t d competition in areas such as antis biotics and respiratory drugs, the s company has kept its faith in India and continued to invest.a GSK has started work on building a d site in Karnataka with an investments Rs 800 crore, a facility that's expected of ` ito go on stream in 2017 and cater to an , expanding Indian business.

As part of its growth plans, GSK is whoping to gain significantly from its deal with Swiss drug maker Novartis which helped it secure a pipeline of vaccines in return for its oncology e portfolio. Vaidheesh is expecting d that with the integration of Novartis' vaccine business, GSK may post a 25% growth. While GSK itself has a portfolio of 10 vaccines, its offerings will expand to two more such as Rabipur (used for vaccinating against rabies) and the pentavalent vaccine named Quinvaxem. Rabipur alone contributes roughly Rs 150 crore, market sources said.

Of the estimated Rs 2,400 crore Indian vaccines market, the private vaccine business is close to Rs 1,600 crore and growing at about 11%, according to market sources. GSK tops the vaccines business with sales of roughly Rs 450 crore till date.