As a biopharma company, we realise that the most critical aspect is to provide well-researched and developed products, which are cost-effective and can be accessed by all, informs Gaurav Kaushik, Managing Director and CEO, Meteoric Biopharmaceuticals, to Akanki Sharma
Give details about the ongoing trends in biopharma industry. In what ways is your company contributing to this industry?
The biopharma industry is witnessing a positive trend in terms of growth, acceptance and innovation. Looking at the numbers, the global biopharmaceuticals market was valued at $237,250.8 million in 2018 and is estimated to be valued at $388,997.3 million in 2024, witnessing a CAGR of 8.59 per cent. A large contributor to this growth is the economic and sustainable ability of the industry to discover and produce innovative treatments as well as biological solutions.
Another major contributor is the growing acceptance of enzymes, enzymatic preparations, pre and probiotics, nutraceuticals and botanicals, which have expanded the market size of the overall industry. As a biopharma company, we realise that the most critical aspect is to provide well researched and developed products, which are cost-effective and can be accessed by all. At Meteoric, we are working on next-generation products across all product lines — be it enzymes, probiotics, nutraceuticals and botanicals.
Our aim is to attract major Contract Research Organisation (CRO) business across the world by providing highly-researched and well-developed products, systemised processes and cost-efficiency.
Which are the markets wherein probiotics, nutraceuticals and enzymes are growing exponentially?
Asia Pacific market of probiotics has been growing rapidly now in the last decade-and-a-half. The major contributors are India, China and Japan. Hence, the probiotics market in Asia Pacific has been growing rapidly over the last decade. The CAGR of 7.5 per cent forecasted for 2016-2024 is now showing an uptrend of CAGR 9.6 per cent at $33.04 billion which is approximately 44 per cent of the global probiotic market demand.
When it comes to food enzymes, the global market was valued at around $1.9 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach around $3 billion with a 5.6 per cent CAGR. According to a survey by Research and Markets in 2018, North America occupied one-third of the global market. One of the reasons for the growth in the food enzymes market is the tremendous development of protein and genetic engineering. Parallelly, regulators like Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) and Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) also framed user-friendly guidelines for the use of enzyme as food additives leading to an increase in the growth of the overall enzyme industry.
In India, we see a surge in the nutraceuticals industry due to the huge demand for dietary supplements and additives, from people of different age groups. Nutraceuticals is the fastest growing segment of the biopharma industry in India and was expected to grow from $4 billion in 2017 to $18 billion in 2025.
Name the companies you offer your products to (in India as well as across the world).
As per our confidentiality agreement with our clients, we will be unable to share the names and details. However 65 per cent of our business is export-driven. Today, we supply to clients across 70 countries.
What is your current business model? How much revenue does your company generate annually?
We are currently catering to the enzymes, probiotics, nutraceuticals and animal healthcare segments. In addition to our custom formulation services, we have recently launched various finished formulations as well that cater to endemic health problems and lifestyle disorders. We plan to actively work on the synbiotoic segment in the coming year. Meteoric generated revenue of Rs 325 million last FY.
Amidst the domains you are active in, which one brings you the maximum revenue? Also, how many patents does the company have at the moment?
Enzymes and enzymatic preparations and probiotics generate the maximum revenue for us. We have seen tremendous growth in nutraceuticals which will catch add to our revenue in the next FY. We have filed three patents as of now.
What key factors drive the growth of Meteoric Biopharma? How do you make your company stand out in the crowd?
The three major factors that drive Meteoric’s growth are innovation, customisation and knowledge. We always look at ways to provide better products through constant research and testing in a cost-efficient manner. Moreover, we work closely with our customers, understanding the markets they work in to drive mutual growth. Our trained technical team is always upgrading its knowledge which ensures they are able to provide complete technical back up to our customers on a real-time basis.
When you innovate continuously, it’s enough to make you stand out in the crowd. But at Meteoric, our offerings are a great combination of Science and Economics, they are well-researched and pocket-friendly, which is a rare combination.
What’s the way forward for your company? Any new products in the pipeline?
We are always looking at how we can make our suite of products more comprehensive for our customers. As mentioned earlier, we have launched our finished formulations this year and plan to actively work in the synbiotoic segment. We also plan to explore application of probiotics in the daily consumable food segments like juices, soft drinks, regular diet food, etc. We also plan to invest in clinical trials and studies as well as filing new patents in the coming year.
akanki.sharma@expressindia.com