Exploring ways to establish presence in China as part of APAC region push: Lupin

Drug major Lupin is looking to establish presence in China as part of its strategy to strengthen its markets in the Asia Pacific region, a senior company official said.

The Mumbai-based firm expects to generate revenues of over USD 100 million from the region, excluding the Japanese market, over the next few years.

Lupin recognises the importance of emerging markets in APAC to drive its future growth, particularly in Southeast Asia where the pharmaceutical market and demand are growing significantly, Lupin President - APAC and Japan Fabrice Egros told PTI.

With that in mind, the company plans to further strengthen its presence in the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar where it has already started some sales via distributors and continue to register new products.

In Malaysia and Thailand, Lupin products have been submitted for approval to regulatory agencies. We are also exploring ways in which we might establish a presence in China, Egros said.

When asked if the company has set any target in terms of revenues from this region, Egros said: We aim to generate USD 100 million sales from non-Japanese APAC markets in the coming years.

In 2017-18, Lupin's APAC business sales stood at Rs 2,572.5 crore, accounting for 17 per cent of Lupin's global sales.

Lupin's Japan FY2018 sales increased 23.4 per cent to JPY 35.478 billion compared to FY2017.

Commenting on the Japanese market, he added that the company has built a strong foundation in the country which will help it address the challenges resulting from the pricing pressure.

This includes building our branded product portfolio and pipeline as well as investing our energy in the biosimilars segment, Egros said.

Lupin has recently announced a strategic partnership with Nichi-Iko for the distribution, promotion and sale of Etanercept in Japan.

The biologics market in Japan is expected to reach USD 13.5 billion next year and the successful commercialisation of the company's first biosimilar will further boost its growth in the region, Egros said.

The company is also focussing on the CNS market in Japan, which is estimated to be around USD 9 billion.

Lupin is present in Japan, Australia and the Philippines through subsidiary companies. It has representative offices in Malaysia ,Vietnam, Myanmar and China.