Glenmark Pharma eyes US biz to be strong growth driver

Mumbai: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Tuesday said it is looking at strong growth in the US market and developing a pipeline of innovative products to offset weakness in emerging markets.

"The US business remains a critical growth driver and our efforts will be to maximise our presence and earnings from this market," Glenmark Pharma Chairman & MD Glenn Saldanha told shareholders at the company's AGM here.

"We expect the US business, which contributes over 30 per cent to the group's revenue to be a strong growth driver for the company in the next few years," he said.

The company will focus across the value chain in the US market from developing generic medicines to a range of speciality products in niche segments apart from having its own pipeline of novel innovative molecules, Saldanha added.

The company also plans to set up a manufacturing plant in the US. On commissioning, the facility is expected to have a capacity to produce 300-400 million tablets and capsules per annum.

"We will also continue to have an India-specific strategy, which involves focusing on core therapy areas to help us grow in this market. After the Indian and US markets, Europe is now the third most important region for us," the MD said.

The company is investing considerably in both European and Latin American operations over the past seven to eight years, and "we are confident of growing margins from these investments in the years to come," he added.

Saldanha further said acquisition is not their strategy and valuations are crazy.

"Companies are overpaying for some of these assets ... so in the near term, we would rather focus on organic growth and developing a pipeline of innovative products," he added.

Glenmark Pharma has 16 manufacturing facilities in five countries and six R&D centres with offices in over 20 countries.