Peter DeYoung, CEO, Piramal Critical Care, talks about its recent product acquisitions from Janssen, recent advancements in the inhalation anaesthesia, and his division’s growth plans, in an exclusive interaction with Sachin Jagdale
Recently, Piramal Enterprises has acquired five anaesthesia and pain management injectable products from Janssen Pharmaceutical. Tell us more about this acquisition.
In line with our strategy to grow both organically and inorganically, this October, we acquired a portfolio of five injectable anaesthesia and pain management products from Janssen that include Sublimaze, Sufenta, Rapifen, Dipidolor and Hypnomidate. These injectable anaesthesia and pain products are a terrific addition to our existing portfolio that will allow us to provide greater value to our customers by leveraging our existing organisation and distribution partners. Once the business is fully transitioned to us, our customers and business partners will benefit from our broader product basket, and in turn, we can grow the value of the acquired product portfolio through our team’s focused sales and marketing efforts. This is in-line with our strategy to add generic hospital products and further leverage our sales and distribution capabilities.
Which are the other critical care products in Piramal’s product portfolio? What percentage of the Piramal Enterprises’ revenue comes from critical care division?
Piramal Critical Care is a global leader in the field of anaesthesia with a portfolio of inhaled and intravenous anesthesia and pain solutions. We are the world’s third largest producer of inhaled anaesthetics with a global market share of 12 per cent and the only company with the complete inhalation anaesthetic product portfolio. Our products are sold directly or through our network of distribution partners in over 110 countries across the world, with significant availability in the US, Europe, Japan, and a number of important emerging markets, including India.
The revenue of Piramal Critical Care during the last fiscal year was Rs 876 crores.
How has inorganic growth helped the company to dominate the global inhalation anaesthesia market?
With 12 per cent market share in the inhalation anaesthetic market, we still have a lot of headroom to grow and thus it is premature to describe our market position as dominant. However, as discussed earlier, Piramal Critical Care’s strategy is to growth through a combination of organic and in-organic growth. If we look back at our performance since we entered into the critical care space, we have acquired products and capabilities and then used what we acquired as a platform to drive organic growth in subsequent years.
Our journey started in 2002 when we acquired Halothane from ICI India. We then acquired the Inhalation Anaesthetic business from Rhodia Organique in 2005, the Haemaccel plasma blood expander from Pharmaselect in 2008, and Inhalation Anaesthetic businesses from Minrad and Rxelite in 2009. In each case we were able to improve the performance of the acquired products post acquisition. While it is too early to show the results, we are on track to replicate this success with the recently closed acquisition of products from Janssen in 2016.
What is the revenue target set for the next financial year? Any new developments on the acquisition front?
We look forward to continue expand our share through line extensions and further penetration in our focus markets across the world. We also look forward to launch our remaining inhalation anaesthetic product, Desflurane, in 2017. In addition, we are working hard to successfully integrate the recently acquired Janssen products and expect our expanded portfolio to drive the growth. Finally, we continue to look for additional generic hospital pharmaceutical products that can further strengthen our product portfolio.
What are the market drivers for inhalation anesthesia products?
Inhalation anaesthesia products are a trusted and well established part of the armamentarium available to anaesthesiologists and Certified Registered Nurse Anaesthetists. The products are used for both inpatient and outpatient procedures. Drivers such as more active ageing population and an increase in elective surgeries as the economy improves both bode well for this market.
What are the latest advancements in the inhalation anaesthesia segment?
The inhalation anaesthesia market is well established and although there are experiments underway with alternative gases, the four primary molecules – Sevoflurane, Isoflurane, Desflurane and Halothane dominate the market. Technological advancements with anaesthesia machines utilising lower fresh gas flow rates have led to more efficient use of the inhalation anaesthesia gases.