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In an industry wracked by compliance issues and regulatory turmoil, Lupin has been the odd one out in being able to keep its nose clean. Vinita Gupta, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc (the US subsidiary) and Group President, Lupin Ltd, who is set to take over as CEO of Lupin Ltd in September, has her eyes set firmly on the challenges ahead, the targets and in changing the face of the company from a generics major into a specialty player.
The company wants to focus on building its branded portfolio. CEO-elect Gupta said the company is looking at flipping the branded and generic components of the business to reflect a 60 per cent branded and 40 per cent generic character.
“We want to grow the component of branded business where we have more control, with higher sustainability, and a higher margin potential,” she said. Towards this end, Gupta said the company is focusing on new segments, including dermatology, ophthalmology and the respiratory inhalation segment, which have high entry barriers and, therefore, provide more sustainable revenue and higher margins.
She said the focus for her and the company now is to commercialise “those high technology intensity areas where the competition is limited.”
The dermatology market has a global size of $20 billion, while inhalations stand at $14 billion, Gupta said, adding that the tremendous pace of growth means there is good opportunity in these markets.
She added that the top priority is for the pharma major to maintain the growth momentum and become a $5-billion company by 2018 (the company’s 50th year). Currently, the company is about $1.8 billion.
Gupta said over the last five years the company has maintained growth of over 25 per cent and if it can sustain 18-20 per cent growth, that would put Lupin in the $4 billion-plus category.
Lupin also has acquisition plans “to add to existing business, add in areas that we have identified, whether that is geographically or new technology areas that we want to be in.”
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