Glenmark bullish on drug discovery pipeline, eyes partnerships

As many as six out of seven molecules in Glenmark's drug discovery pipeline are currently in the clinical trial stage and the company's R&D spend pegged at 10 per cent of sales is expected to be maintained at similar levels for next two years, a top official has said.
Pain, inflammation and oncology are the therapeutic areas currently the drug maker is working on, said Glenn Saldanha, Chairman & Managing Director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
"Currently, we have a pipeline of 7 molecules -- 3 New Chemical Entities (NCEs) and 4 New Biologics Entities (NBEs) in various stages of clinical development. 6 out of the 7 molecules in our innovation pipeline are in the clinical trial stage," Saldanha told PTI.

"Only GBR 1302 is presently in pre-clinical development. GBR 830, which is currently in Phase I is a promising candidate for entering Phase II clinical development," Saldanha added.
One of the NBEs, Vatelizumab (GBR 500), has been out-licensed to Sanofi and has completed Phase 1 study in the US and currently in a Phase II trial for relapsing forms of Multiple Sclerosis while.
For GRC 27864 (NCE), the company has an option agreement with Forest Laboratories, he added.

"We are constantly looking for opportunities for partnering for the development of these pipeline molecules," he said.
Saldanha said its investments in Research and Development (R&D) is currently pegged at 10 per cent of the company's revenues. The company is expected to keep the investments at this number for the next couple of years, he added.

On R&D spend, he said the company is net positive on the expenses it incurred so far on the new molecules.
"So far, the company has recovered the amount spent on innovative R&D, which is almost USD 200 million in the past nine years.
"We have also successfully out-licensed seven molecules and have received a total of USD 217 million in up-front and milestone payments.
"So, we are net cash positive as far as our innovation R&D investments are concerned," he said.
On Glenmark's US facility expansion, Saldanha said on commissioning the unit is expected to have a capacity to produce 300-400 million tablets and capsules per annum.

"We have now announced a new injectable unit in that same area. This injectable unit will have a capacity of 20-25 million vials and pre-filled syringes per annum on commencement of production," he added.
On the generics business front, the US remains a critical growth driver for the organisation along with India and the Rest of World (ROW) markets, he further said.
The ROW markets which are profitable will see increased investments and the company will focus to keep the profitability high in these markets.
Over the next few years, he said the LatAm (Latin America) and the Europe business is expected to continue to improve with each year going forward.