'We expect oncology segment to grow faster as we launch more products'

Q&A with Edgard Olaizola, MD, Eli Lilly India

US-based pharma major Eli Lilly to strengthen its Indian operations by entering into therapeutic areas with new launches. A strong player in diabetes and cancer treatments, Eli Lilly has launched a once-weekly injectable diabetes medication Trulicity in India.

Edgard Olaizola, managing director, Eli Lilly India speaks to Gireesh Babu about company's plans and on patent, pricing and regulatory environment. Edited excerpts:

What are the launch pipeline of Eli Lilly in India?

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We have been working in injectables, in diabetes, since the time we entered India in 1923. We have now the first once-a-week injectable medication. Later on, we also have two more injectable products in diabetes that we are working with the regulatory agency. One is a new version of a current product in the market and the other one is a different product. We have two products coming in oncology - one in gastric cancer. We have a portfolio of lung cancer medicines also.

Could you elaborate your plans to enter new therapeutic segments in India?

Globally, we have diabetes, oncology and biomeds portfolio. Within biomeds we have products for Alzheimers' disease, Psoriasis, pain management and rheumatoid arthritis. Some of these medications are in clinical trial, some of them are under review in the US and Europe. We have to wait until that, to start regulatory process in India. I cannot talk more than that till we get the approvals.

You have said that you will be launching one medicine a year for next four years. At present 80% of your sales in India is diabetes medicines, 10% from oncology and the rest from the rest of the therapeutic segments. Do you see this ratio changing with the new launches?

Yes. As we launch more products in oncology, we expect this segment to grow faster and as we enter into new therapeutic area, our portfolio mix will change. It is hard to put any specific numbers to it. We expect the diabetes portion will reduce a bit, but it will still be the largest piece for us in India.

Why did you wind up branded generics in India?

We have one of the richest pipelines in our company history, and because we have all these new products coming in, the strategy was to really put the resources behind the new products. That is why we decided not to continue with the branded generics. We started branded generics business in India to bring quality medicines in oncology and it was there for a year and a half. We were happy with the branded generics, we were pleased with what we did.

Today, because we have a very good portfolio we want to bring those and concentrate on those medications to India.

Is introduction of generic equivalents in India a challenge?

In the case of Trulicity, we have a patent here. What we actually seen in the recent years is that the medication actually come to the market and not really face the generics. We are not against generics. It is the lifecycle of our industry - you start with a product, you have a patent for certain number of years and eventually you lose the patent and in that allow generics to enter and that helps patients. It is important that during the period of time we get the protection because we have invested a lot of money to bring this medication into the market. in the last few years we have seen new medications come in and patents are being respected. Infringements happened in the past, but recently we have seen positive news in that regard. It has been positive news for us. We are not in any litigation from that point of view.

How do you see the pricing and other regulations environment in India?

We require an environment that is transparent, an environment in which there is open dialogue among stakeholders, an environment which you have a market based type of pricing.

If you want to bring in brand new products to India and bring innovation, you need to have an environment that will reward. At the same time access to medication is important and as multinationals and industry we work with the government. You have to understand that access is more than price.

It is important for us to work on the access piece and the education piece.