Gland Pharma eyes complex injectables, biosimilars space

Hyderabad: Gland Pharma, which operates primarily under a business-to-business model, is looking at complex injectables segment, contract development, and manufacturing of biosimilars to fuel its near term growth.

The Hyderabad-based drug firm noted that it has made good progress in the R&D field for planned submission batches for complex injectables to be filed in the current financial year. "Our near-term focus remains on establishing a strong portfolio of complex injectables for which while we are having an internal program, we are also looking at acquisition opportunities to help expedite the development process. Installation of new lines catering to suspensions and hormonal products has been completed," Gland Pharma MD and CEO Srinivas Sadu said in a recent analyst call.

The company is on track to make four complex injectable filings in this financial year, he added. Sadu noted that the company's near-term focus remains on establishing a strong portfolio of complex injectables. When asked to elaborate on the company's strategy for the vertical, he stated: "If you look at the total basket, the complexity varies from product to product. Some products, the APIs are difficult, some are formulations, and some are like dosage form itself, and some might need a clinical, so it is a combination of everything. So, if you look at our 17 products which we had taken in the first phase, I would say, it falls into three or four different categories". "What we are filing now is complex in APIs and also characterisation, and they have products in suspension mode where we also need biostudy. So, it is not like one product, one complexity for all the products, but it is a mix of everything."

Commenting on the biosimilar opportunity, Sadu said: "Biosimilar CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organisation) is the next long-term growth driver we are working towards. While the experience in vaccine collaboration has helped us gain the know-how and accelerated creating facility and technical team, we are also looking at opportunities to collaborate on the biosimilar front to build a pathway to cement our position in the future".