German healthcare company Merck’s operations in India may not be as big as other pharmaceutical companies, but it is not too small either, says Managing Director Anand Nambiar explaining that it is rightly positioned to adapt to a changing environment.
In fact that was Nambiar’s message at a townhall interaction to mark 50 years of Merck’s operations in India. Speaking to BusinessLine on Thursday before the townhall meeting, Nambiar said his key message to employees will be, “as a company we are in a much stronger position than we have ever been in.”
“There are challenges of course, but we are in a good spot. If I look at the next five to 10 years given the evolution of our demographics, the evolution of digital technology, that’s where our strength is. We are little bit small enough to be able to make those quick changes, to be agile and be ready for those big changes.”
Merck’s combined turnover in the country, including its listed company and four private entities, stands at about ₹2,500 core. But for a company perceived as being reclusive, its consumer care brands Neurobion, Polybion and Seven Seas, for instance, are virtually household names. These popular brands help Merck in India achieve its 3X3 strategy in consumer healthcare, where the target is to have three brands with more than three per cent marketshare, he said. And plans are on for the pilot launch of Seven Seas Perfect Seven in June, besides another “hush hush” product also in consumer health later this year.
With products across healthcare or traditional pharmaceuticals and lifesciences, Merck has a presence in fertility and oncology. But the last innovative cancer product introduced in India was 10 years ago. Will that change?
“I believe so,” says Nambiar, referring to internal discussions in the company involving their breakthrough product Avelumab (to treat Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer) that received regulatory approval in the United States recently. The product will be launched in the US this year and discussions are on internally about the right time to register the product and bring it to India, he said, adding that it will take at least two years. The fertility technology segment too, will see a shift from being a drug specific company to being treatment and outcome-oriented, he said. It is a space that needs education and awareness of patients and prescribers, he adds.
As it turns 50, Merck will continue to look for acquisition opportunities, he said, “more so now than ever before in healthcare as well as lifesciences to expand our footprint in India.”
But the acquired business will have to fit in with Merck’s core competency and it should be scalable in other markets, he said. “So the interest of a multinational is, if there are jewels in the country, can those jewels be taken outside as well or is it only a local jewel.”
That will be a judgement call for a company of Merck’s size, he adds, “because we don’t have the deep pockets that some other companies might have so we really have to be selective in what we choose, where we invest.”