Mankind Pharma has “renewed” its focus on the specialty business, as it plugs “therapeutic gaps”, in a highly competitive segment.

It is looking at chronic areas including heart failure, for example, besides launching products like its insulin glargine this year.

Having started its dedicated specialty business during the pandemic, Mankind Specialties has in four years grown from two to nine therapeutic segments, says Atish Majumdar, Senior President (Sales and Marketing), Mankind Pharma.

A 3600-member strong field-force supports its expanded specialty business, comprising cardiology, diabetes, respiratory, gastroenterology, neurology, oncology and urology.

Mankind Pharma is not a “late entrant,” in the specialties segment, says Majumdar, countering market perception. The company is renewing its focus given the continuous shift in chronic diseases, he told businessline, outlining their strategy in a competitive segment packed with companies including Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s and Cipla, to name just a few.

A dedicated team, based out of Mumbai, looks “to plug in the portfolio gaps and therapeutic and sub-therapeutic gaps in different specialty areas, which will complement the multi-specialty business,” he explained.

Driven by the increasing incidence of chronic diseases, its strategy looks at “therapy white spaces like Insulin, Inhalation, Heart Failure, COPD and Epilepsy,” he said.  Mankind has built on local acquisitions (from Panacea Biotec and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories) and has collaborations with multinationals like Novartis and AstraZeneca.

Mankind had earlier this year announced its acquisition of Bharat Serums and Vaccines for ₹13,360 crore, and earlier this month, the Competition Commission of India had approved the transaction. The company is presently in the process of raising funds to complete the process.

Also this month, it transferred its OTC (over the counter) business into its wholly-owned consumer products subsidiary. Majumdar did not go so far, as to forecast a similar future for the specialty business as well.  

On what the future holds in specialtes for Mankind,  Majumdar pointed to its investment in UK’s Actimed Therapeutics, and it research in cancer.  

Other categories products on the radar include the globally popular GLP-1 products (Semaglutide and others), he said, besides products in the muscle preservation category.

For the long run, there is also biosimilars, targeted therapies, immunotherapies, ADCs (antibody drug conjugates), “that’s where the market is shifting,” he added.

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