Wockhardt is a true Indian pharmaceutical multinational with full-fledged operations in several countries, including US, UK, Ireland and France. In an exclusive interaction with The Dollar Business, Dr. Murtaza Khorakiwala, Managing Director of Wockhardt Group, talks about the company’s innovative business models that are in motion to make the most of emerging opportunities across the globe.

Interview By ANISHAA Kumar | May Issue 2017 | The Dollar Business

TDB: Could you give us some insights into the journey of Wockhardt Group?

Dr. Murtaza Khorakiwala (MK): Wockhardt ranks amongst India’s leading pharma and biotech companies with a global footprint and a strong R&D focus. It traces its roots back to the 1960s when the Khorakiwala family bought a pharma company that primarily manufactured medicines for common cold and cough. Till 1992, the company centred its operations towards becoming a major player in the Indian pharma industry. Thereafter, it concentrated on becoming a global drug maker.

TDB: What role have acquisitions played in Wockhardt’s growth?

MK: Acquisitions have helped Wockhardt continuously strengthen its presence in the global market. In 1998, we acquired Merind, a former affiliate of Merck Sharp & Dohme of US. This enabled the company to penetrate into new therapeutic areas like corticosteroids, psychiatry and neurology. The same year, Wockhardt also acquired UK-based Wallis Laboratory. Later in 2003, it took over CP Pharmaceuticals, another UK-based company, thereby gaining access to a large customer base of hospitals under the National Health Service (NHS). Largely due to these highly successful acquisitions, today, it is the largest Indian pharmaceutical company in UK.

Expansion through acquisitions continued in 2004 when we acquired the brands, businesses and marketing infrastructure of Esparma GmbH of Germany, followed by the purchase of US-based Morton Grove and France-based Negma Laboratories.

Today Wockhardt’s manufacturing facilities, with capabilities for both finished dosage formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), are spread across India, US and UK. The company has subsidiaries in US, UK and Mexico, and marketing offices in Africa, Russia, Central and Southeast Asia. Such has been the diversification that India, which in 2000 contributed to about 78% of Wockhardt’s business, now contributes just about 32% to the total revenue. The rest 68% comes from overseas markets.

TDB: Besides India and UK, which other markets are of importance to you and where are you looking to expand?

MK: When it comes to overseas markets, US contributes significantly, after UK. At the same time, emerging markets in Asia, Africa, CIS and Latin America – where Wockhardt has a portfolio of more than 50 products with a strong network of more than 65 regional partners – are important as well. We are currently looking to expand into the fast-growing and strategically important emerging markets.

TDB: What opportunities and challenges do you foresee for Indian pharma companies in foreign markets?

MK: India is likely to gain its fair share of global opportunities that are currently emerging around biosimilars. Indian biotech companies are building capabilities in development and manufacturing of biosimilars. The development of biosimilars is more challenging than the development of small-molecule generics due to the greater complexity of biological drugs and the complex manufacturing process. It is because of this inherent complexity that the production, approval and uptake of biosimilars follow a different trajectory than that of the existing generic drugs market.

We recognised this opportunity early and went through the learning curve with high involvement and commitment. In fact, our products have been well received by clinicians as well as patients in over 25 countries around the globe.

Another area of opportunity for India is new drug discovery research. While it’s at a nascent stage, new drug discovery research by Indian fraternity is gaining momentum on the global landscape. The Indian pharma industry has reached mid-to-late-stage global clinical development in areas of diabetes, respiratory diseases, immunology and oncology.

The global antibiotic scenario has deteriorated considerably due to rising resistance to existing medication, lack of new medicines and an increase in new resistant organisms. This became more complicated when most pharmaceutical majors distanced themselves from the anti-infective development research and moved towards the chronic illness space. Against this backdrop, Wockhardt Discovery engaged itself in the pursuit of developing new antibiotics with the vision of targeting the realm of unmet medical needs. Two decades of research yielded five major drugs.

Though very rewarding, new drug development is a lengthy, complex and expensive process, entrenched with a high degree of uncertainty.

TDB: Today antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is being considered as a major problem globally. However, Wockhardt is amongst the top pharma giants that have vowed to eradicate it. Can you elaborate a bit more on this?

MK: Today, globally, AMR is responsible for more than 0.7 million deaths annually and the number is slated to increase to 10 million by 2050. Due to AMR, the additional healthcare cost per year is approximately $4 billion, globally. Moreover, it has resulted in a collateral damage – the ability of the global healthcare system to manage various surgeries, organ transplants, etc., has been compromised. Wockhardt’s Drug Discovery Programme focuses on finding novel solutions to this growing threat and has achieved significant successes in fulfiling these needs. With five new drugs accorded qualified infectious disease product (QIDP) status, Wockhardt aspires for global leadership in antibiotics.

TDB: Where do these five QIDP designated drugs currently stand in the drug development cycle?

MK: The five QIDP-designated novel antibacterial drugs (WCK 771, WCK 2349, WCK 4873, WCK 4282 and WCK 5222), are in advanced stages of clinical development. They belong to four different classes of antibiotics. Each of these new antibiotics has a distinct mechanism of action, making them active against multidrug-resistant pathogens responsible for serious infections. Wockhardt’s new antibiotics would be useful in the treatment of bloodstream infections, pneumonia, surgical wound infections, community respiratory infections and pneumonia caused due to ventilators. All these products have the potential to significantly reduce the mortality and morbidity attributed to life-threatening infections in both hospital and community settings.

TDB: USFDA has frequently flagged Indian pharma majors over quality. Should the government intervene?

MK: The Indian government may like to engage with the US government for faster redressal of regulatory issues, considering the strategic relationship between two countries and the strong presence of Indian pharma companies in US.

TDB: Medical tourism is gaining momentum in India. What can be done to make India more attractive to patients from across the world?

MK: India is not only price-competitive compared to other South-East Asian countries but is also high on the skill index. This has resulted in a large influx of international patients, over the last quarter of a century. Currently, a reasonable amount of business is coming to metros such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai, largely from the third world countries. It is estimated that roughly 5% of the business of high-end tertiary care hospitals in metros and tier I cities comes from global patients.

At Wockhardt Hospitals, business from international patients is rapidly rising at a pace of 60-70% every year. At our hospitals in south and north Mumbai, international patients constitute a substantial portion of our business. Wockhardt has been able to reach out to various under-served geographies and is also privileged to leverage the Wockhardt brand and network. Our clinical acumen and credibility makes us stand out from the crowd.

The two major markets of medical value travel are the underdeveloped interiors of the African subcontinent and the Middle East. This constitutes about half of the medical value travellers arriving in India. India must look at it as an activity of creating dollar tourism and follow programmes created by countries such as Thailand. The issuance and of medical visas should be increased considerably and specific facilities should be created with help from the private sector to generate high-value medical tourism.