Gland Pharma eyeing complex injectables, biosimilar space to fuel future growth

"Our near-term focus remains on establishing a strong portfolio of complex injectables for which while we are having an internal program, we are also looking at acquisition opportunities to help expedite the development process. Installation of new lines catering to suspensions and hormonal products has been completed," Gland Pharma MD and CEO Srinivas Sadu said in a recent analyst call.

The company is on track to make four complex injectable filings in this financial year, he added.

Sadu noted that the company's near-term focus remains on establishing a strong portfolio of complex injectables.

When asked to elaborate on the company's strategy for the vertical, he stated: "If you look at the total basket, the complexity varies from product to product. Some products, the APIs are difficult, some are formulations, and some are like dosage form itself, and some might need a clinical, so it is a combination of everything. So, if you look at our 17 products which we had taken in the first phase, I would say, it falls into three or four different categories".

"What we are filing now is complex in APIs and also characterisation, and they have products in suspension mode where we also need biostudy. So, it is not like one product, one complexity for all the products, but it is a mix of everything."

Commenting on the biosimilar opportunity, Sadu said: "Biosimilar CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organisation) is the next long-term growth driver we are working towards. While the experience in vaccine collaboration has helped us gain the know-how and accelerated creating facility and technical team, we are also looking at opportunities to collaborate on the biosimilar front to build a pathway to cement our position in the future".

He noted that the company has already created a 60 KL capacity in the segment.

"We had actually created the capacity for the vaccine (COVID-19), and then it is getting expanded to the CDMO for the biosimilar space. We will start with and later depending upon the demand, can actually expand it ...we are talking to companies within the Fosun framework and trying to start up with them to initially launch some of their substances from the Indian site," Sadu said.

Parallelly, the company would also get in touch with other players as more and more interest is coming from a lot of generic and innovator companies that want to create a biosimilar portfolio, he added.

Gland Pharma is promoted by China-based Shanghai Fosun Pharma.

For the July-September quarter, the company posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 302 crore, a year-on-year growth of 38 per cent. Its revenue from operations rose to Rs 1,080 crore during the quarter.