Hasit Joshipura, GlaxoSmithKline's India Managing Director is unfazed by the recent mega-deal that Abbott struck with Piramal Healthcare - catapulting the U.S. giant to the number one slot in India with a market share of nearly 7 percent.

Joshipura sat down with PharmAsia News two years ago when GSK was India's largest multinational drug company ( Also see "GSK India Managing Director Hasit Joshipura On What Lies Ahead For India’s Largest Multinational Drug Company: An Interview With PharmAsia News (Part 1 of 2)" - Scrip, 9 October, 2008.). Until recently, GSK held the leadership position amongst MNCs in India for decades, and the company remains confident about the Indian market. Joshipura firmly believes that his company will distinguish itself from the others in every therapy segment.

In Also see "GSK India Managing Director Hasit Joshipura On Business Dynamics In India, Tiered Pricing And Approaches To Rural Markets: An Interview With PharmAsia News (Part 1 Of 2)" - Scrip, 22 November, 2010. of this interview, Joshipura discussed GSK's tiered pricing strategy in India and other emerging markets as well as the company's goals for rural markets. In this second part of the interview, he tells PharmAsia News' India bureau about GSK's global commercial strategies and how India fits into the company's vision and future growth plans.

PharmAsia News: Product launches in India are becoming very scientific, now with so many original products coming in from global companies. How do you see those changes, especially given increasing controversy about enticing doctors with gifts and kickbacks to generate sales?

Hasit Joshipura: Apart from the legislations that are being worked upon to streamline the system, the Medical Council of India should distinguish partnerships between companies and physicians that are relevant for continuing medical education and such kind of activities. It really helps physicians to expand their knowledge, and then an accreditation program should be followed so that for particular science-driven programs, they get certain points. In order to get into more sophisticated therapy areas like oncology, cardiovascular drugs and vaccines - we will be very happy to do that.

We have been in this country for 80 years and we will be very keen to partner with the physician community and the government.

PharmAsia News: Globally you are involved in the TB Alliance and the Medicines for Malaria Venture. How will India come in to play a role in that greater objective?

Joshipura: Our CEO Andrew Witty has formed a separate unit for rare diseases under a very senior person, who was earlier the head of Asia-Pac, named Marc Dunoyer. This division has just been created so I think there will be an India angle to it. We have been working on a leishmaniasis drug or kala-azar drug called sitamaquine, which is very relevant to our geography. Albendazole for lymphatic filariasis is also there. Sooner or later India may become a part of that. When our TB vaccine progresses or even the malaria vaccine, which is going through Phase III in Africa, India will be a very big player. Again, rotavirus itself is so relevant to India.

PharmAsia News: New product launches will make the most money for you in the coming years. What are the plans in the near term?

Joshipura: We have been very active in new products. If you look closely, about 40-45% of our growth is coming from products launched in the last three years, and that will continue. We are not a generic company and we will never be like them, so we have five ways to grow: bring products from parent's pipeline, in-license, get into select branded generics and launch vaccines or inorganic opportunities.

If we look at the next 12 months in terms of original products - we have approvals for two drugs Votrient (pazopanib) and Revolade (eltrombopag), which will be launched in the next six months. Then we will have two vaccines: the pneumococcal vaccine and the next one is a six-component vaccine. In addition, we have a few more in the pipeline. We launched Stiefel's portfolio of skincare brands last year and they are also doing very well. Fortunately, that gives us a comprehensive pipeline of products in dermatology, and now almost 94 percent of that segment is serviced by us [Also see "J&J, GSK, AstraZeneca's Emerging Markets Roundup: PharmAsia News Earnings Call Roundup" - Scrip, 10 February, 2010.].

PharmAsia News: How are your in-licensing initiatives going? Are smaller, unrepresented companies approaching you yet?

Joshipura: There is definite progress in this segment, which I am not able to share at this point. We are talking to many players and hopefully something will come up. We have the track record now. When we launched Daiichi Sankyo's Benitec (olmesartan) that was our first foray into cardiovascular drugs, and there were some 17 products at that time in India. Eighteen months later, we are ranked seventh in the product. Also, our deal with Astellas for Mycamine (mycafungin) is doing very well. We are getting good traction.

PharmAsia News: For GSK headquarters, in the big picture emerging markets game, where does India stand as of now - from manufacturing to research?

Joshipura: Currently, the focus is that India will service India and not beyond. Of course, India does service the lymphatic filariasis program which Andrew [Witty] came and inaugurated, but mostly we at GSK are working on the India market. India is growing at the minimum of 13 percent - all from volumes and next year we will be even higher. The expectations from India are very high and we have to meet those requirements first.

For exploring other opportunities in emerging markets, there are separate deals with companies like Dr. Reddy's Labs that we have struck (Also see "GSK In Pact With India’s Dr Reddy’s; Digs Deeper Into Emerging Generic Drugs Market" - Scrip, 15 June, 2009.).

PharmAsia News: Our conversation will not be complete if we do not talk about M&As in India. Are you eyeing anything in India?

Joshipura: Our compulsions are different. As and when we find something that makes sense for us from the value-addition standpoint, meeting shareholders interests, and if there are strategic fits we will be interested, but there are no compulsions on us at all. We are sitting on a lot of cash and we keep looking, from companies to brands. We have so many pipeline gaps that can still be filled.

PharmAsia News: Let me ask this another way. What could be the impediments for you in striking India deals?

Joshipura: The impediments could be high expectations of the seller, also what could be our assessment in terms of unlocking value of the acquired entity or products. Ultimately if we buy and there is no value accretion, it is of no use to us.

- Vikas Dandekar (v.dandekar@elsevier.com)

GSK India Managing Director Hasit Joshipura On Business Dynamics In India, Tiered Pricing And Approaches To Rural Markets: An Interview With PharmAsia News (Part 2 Of 2)

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