Patent environment in India has improved over last couple of years: Andreas Barner

Germany-based pharma giant Boehringer Ingelheim is betting big on India. The company is launching its patented products in the country. On a recent visit to India, Andreas Barner, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of Boehringer Ingelheim, spoke to Business Today's PB Jayakumar. Edited excerpts:

Q. Unlike most other multinational drug makers from the US and Europe, Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) is a late entrant into the Indian market. Any specific reason for this?

A. We are a privately held company and such market decisions are taken after considering various factors. Our major focus markets are the US, Japan and Germany. We realised India has very high growth potential and we entered this market in 2003. Within a few years, we have grown significantly. Now BI employs over 500 people here and that will grow in the coming years.

Q. What is the contribution of India to your global revenues?

A. Now it is not a large number, but it is sure to grow in the coming years.

Q. What are your plans for the Indian market? You have a generic arm in the US. Is BI looking to tap the generic market in India?

A. Our focus in this market will be restricted only to launching our own patented products and we are not looking at the generics market. Now we have about three products here and will launch more products in the coming years.

Q. Many multinational companies complain about the patent regime in India...

A. Innovation is important in drug discovery and patent protection is important to recover the spending on research and development. I think the patent environment in India improved over the last couple of years and there is room for more improvement.

Q. But pricing is an issue in markets like India because majority of patients cannot afford expensive drugs. What is your strategy for the Indian market?

A. We will sell our drugs in this country at prices lower than what is prevailing in our key markets and will price our drugs according to the market conditions here. When you talk about affordability, one should also consider the fact that India is growing and it has a huge middle class population, more than the whole population of many European countries.

Q. BI has had flat growth in the last few years and in the first half of 2014 sales had dropped by 8 per cent. What is the outlook going forward?

A. We have announced measures for cost reduction by 2016 and our drug pipeline is very good. We have about ten potential new drugs, which may reach the market in the next couple of years.