BS People: Sandeep Gupta

Eli Lilly veteran heads Glenmark

For India’s leading pharmaceutical firm Glenmark, the appointment of Sandeep Gupta as its new chief operating officer is more of a vision statement.

Gupta, former head of the India subsidiary of Eli Lilly, the US pharmaceutical major, symbolises Glenmark’s growing ambition to partner with global pharmaceutical giants in the areas of research and development, manufacturing and marketing of medicines.

During his 18 year-old stint at Lilly, Gupta has worked in countries such as US, Philippines, Hong Kong and during the last six years, headed India operations.

Announcing the appointment early this year, Glenn Saldanha, Chairman and MD, Glenmark hoped that having Gupta, whose extensive experience in emerging markets and the US along with his strong leadership skills, on board will further strengthen his company’s management team.

Gupta is based at Glenmark’s Corporate Headquarters in Mumbai and is responsible for the company’s branded generics business which is divided into six regions: India, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Russia/CIS, Africa/Middle East, and Central Eastern Europe with offices in over 20 countries. He will also oversee operational aspects including Quality, Projects, Distribution and Supply Chain for the company.

A post-graduate in Management Studies from BITS, Pilani, India, Gupta brings with him diverse global industry experience of over 27 years in various sales, marketing and management roles.

Incidentally, Glenmark had at least half a dozen announcements of litigation settlements, milestone payments or marketing agreements involving foreign drug multinationals in 2011.