Major Players
Ranbaxy Laboratories(Tejendra Khanna, Chairman)
Ranbaxy is the leader in the Indian pharmaceutical market, taking in $1.174 billion in revenues for a net profit of $160 million in 2004. It was the first Indian pharmaceutical to have a proprietary drug (extended-release ciproflaxin, marketed by Bayer) approved by the U.S. FDA, and the U.S. market accounts for 36% of its sales. 78% of Ranbaxy’s sales are from overseas markets; its offices in 44 countries manage manufacturing in 7 countries and distribution in over 100.

IMS Health estimated that Ranbaxy is among the top 100 pharmaceuticals in the world and that it is the 15th fastest growing company. By 2012, Ranbaxy hopes to be one of the top 5 generics producers in the world, and it consolidated its position with the purchase of French firm RGP Aventis in 2003. Ranbaxy also has higher aspirations, however, “to build a proprietary prescription business in the advanced markets.” To this end, it keeps a dedicated research facility in Gurgaon staffed with over 1100 scientists. They currently have two molecules in Phase II trials and 3-5 in pre-clinical testing. It spent $75 million in R&D in 2004, a 43% increase over its 2003 expenditure.

CEO Brian Tempest is the only non-Indian on the senior management team.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories(K. Anji Reddy, Chairman)
Founded in 1984 with $160,000, Dr. Reddy’s was the first Asia-Pacific pharmaceutical outside of Japan and the sixth Indian company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It earned $446 million in fiscal year 2005, deriving 66% of this income from the foreign market. In order to strengthen its global position, Dr. Reddy acquired UK-based BMS Laboratories and subsidiary Meridian Healthcare.

Although 58% of Dr. Reddy’s revenues come from generic drugs, the company was committed to WTO-compliance long before the 2005 bill took effect, and most of these products were already off patent. Dr. Reddy has long been a research-oriented firm, preceding many of its peers in setting up a New Drug Development Research (NDDR) in 1993 and out-licensing its first compound just four years later. Dr. Reddy’s has since outlicensed two more molecules and currently has three others in clinical trials.

Although Dr. Reddy’s is publicly-traded, the Reddy family (including founder/chairman K. Anji Reddy, son-in-law/CEO GV Prasad and son/COO Satish Reddy) holds a hefty 26% share in the company.

Nicholas Piramal(Ajay G. Piramal, Chairman)
Now a company grossing $350 million per year, Nicholas Piramal started its existence with the 1988 acquisition of Nicholas Laboratories and grew through a series of mergers, acquisitions and alliances. The company has formed a name for itself in the field of custom manufacturing. It cites its 1700-person global sales force as another core strength; with its acquisition of Rhodia’s inhalation anaesthetics business, Nicholas Piramal gained a sales and marketing network spanning 90 countries34.

Nicholas Piramal is well-poised for the challenge of surviving in the aftermath of product patent protection. The company has respected intellectual property rights since its inception and refused to “support generic companies seeking first-to-file or early-to-market strategies.” Instead, it decided to make its own intellectual property and opened a research facility last November in Mumbai with hopes of launching its first drug in 2010 at a cost of $100,000.

Cipla(Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied, Chairman and Managing Director)
Cipla burst into the international consciousness in 2000 with Triomune, an AIDS treatment costing between $300 and $800 per year that infringed upon patents held by several companies who were selling the cocktail for $12,000 per year. Long before this news, Cipla had been building a strong global presence, and it now distributes its 800-odd products in over 140 countries. Privately-held Cipla holds a prominent spot in its home country as well; it is the leader in domestic sales, having just unseated GlaxoSmithKline for the first time in 28 years. Revenue in 2004 totaled $552 million (using Rs 43.472 = $1) about 75% of which was derived in India. Cipla did not report having a research program.8,18

Biocon(Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director)
Biocon is probably best known for its founder, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who overcame incredible gender-based discrimination to become the richest woman in India. Originally an extension to an Irish chemicals company seeking to break into the Indian market, Biocon is now the leading biotech in India, bringing in Rs 646.36 crore (almost $150 million) in revenue for fiscal year 2004. It initially made its money by producing enzymes, but Biocon recently decided to become a research-oriented company with the goal of bringing a proprietary new drug to market.

The company went public in March 2004, and “its shares were oversubscribed by 33 times on opening day.” Eight months later it launched Insugen, a bio-insulin that is its first branded product. Biocon also has two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Syngene and Clinigene, that perform custom research and clinical trials.

Serum Institute of India(Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman)
The Serum Institute of India can make the enviable claim that 1 out of every 2 children in the world is immunized with one of their vaccines. It is the world’s largest producer of measles and DTP vaccines, and its portfolio includes other vaccines, antisera, plasma products and anticancer compounds. The Serum Institute earned Rs 565 crore ($130 million) in revenue in fiscal year 2005, selling mainly to UN agencies and to the Indian government. The Serum Institute is part of the Poonawalla Group, whose holdings include a horse stud farm and manufacturers of industrial equipment.