Aventis Pharma

Background

Aventis Pharma, formerly known as Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR) was the result of the amalgamation of Hoechst with Marion Merrel Dow and Roussel India. The company was incorporated in May 1956 as Hoechst Fedco Pharma. In April 1961, it went public and the name was changed to Hoechst Pharmaceuticals and then to Hoechst India in 1984.

Aventis Pharma is the second largest pharmaceutical multinational in India with a turnover of over Rs 500 crore. It has a focused portfolio of products in sync with the parent company.

Around 60 per cent of its product portfolio falls under price control. Though the company is not actively involved in R&D in India, it has access to the group's global research initiatives. It's one of the few multinationals that has been regularly launching products in India from the parent's pipeline.

Out of the top 14 strategic products of the parent company, 10 have been launched in India. The new product launches of the company - Cardace (61 per cent YoY growth), Allegra (51 per cent) and Amaryl (48 per cent) have contributed to the improved performance of the company. The new product contribution to sales currently stands at 18 per cent and is expected to go up to 30 per cent by 2003.

The parent

Aventis Pharma was created through the merger of Hoechst and Rhone-Poulenc in 1999. With sales of over euro 16.1 bn, Aventis has a strong presence in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain in addition to the home markets of France and Germany. It also has a presence in the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America.

R&D investments of the company were euro 2.7 bn in 2000 translating to 16.8 percent of sales, one of the highest R&D budgets. During the first nine months of 2001, net sales rose 14.4 per cent to euro 12.95 bn. Its nine-month profit rose 42.7 per cent to euro 1.15 bn from euro 809 mn euro last year.

The company plans to focus on the world's largest markets