The management of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is looking to divest about 8 per cent stake in Glenmark Life Sciences, to align with a regulatory requirement on public shareholding.

“We have a 7-8 per cent sell down requirement by law and we are working on it,” said Glenn Saldanha, Chairman and Managing Director, in response to an analyst query. Recent reports suggested a major stake sale was imminent in GLS, but the company management did not clarify if it was open to divesting more than the mandated equity, nor was there a mention of the possible contenders in the transaction.

Glenmark has three years to bring the public shareholding to 25 per cent, and the timeline is upto August 2024, said VS Mani, Glenmark Pharma’s Executive Director and Global Chief Financial Officer. Glenmark Life Sciences is a recently listed subsidiary, where the parent company holds 82.84 per cent equity. It is focused on manufacturing and marketing API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) products across major global markets.

Generic prescription

On other policy decisions confronting drugmakers including the most recent one mandating doctors to prescribe only generic names of companies, Glenn said, the industry was trying to understand its implications. 

However, he added, the Indian pharmaceutical market continued to hold opportunities in terms of branded and generic drugs and over the counter (OTC) products.

For Glenmark, he pointed out, the year would, among other things, be critical for the oncology pipeline under Ichnos. Besides, it was in the process of scouting for licensing partners on other promising candidates, he added. Ichnos is a wholly-owned subsidiary in the US, focused on developing novel biological molecules in the oncology segment.

Last week, Glenmark Pharma had announced its first quarter results, for the three months ended June 30, 2023. Its profit after tax for the three months ended June 30, 2023 stood at ₹173 crore, down 18 per cent from the corresponding period in the previous year. The company’s consolidated revenue stood at ₹3,401 crore as against ₹2,777 crore, up 22.5 per cent, over last year’s performance in the same period. 

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