Entrepreneurship Beckons As Eisai India Chief Departs
Executive Summary
Eisai Pharmaceuticals India's managing director has left the company and plans to start his own venture.
Eisai Pharmaceuticals India Pvt. Ltd.'s managing director, Dr Sanjit Singh Lamba, is moving on after a long stint with the company.
Lamba, who has been quite the public face of Eisai in India, was at the helm for over a decade and has overseen some key milestones for the company, including getting Eisai’s greenfield manufacturing and research facility in Vizag up and running and the amalgamation of the Japanese multinational’s Indian entities.
The Vizag site, seen as the fulcrum of Eisai’s operations in India, was the first major Japanese investment in pharma manufacturing and R&D in the country and one that Lamba is said to have steered all the way from site selection to start of operation.
“It’s been a fantastic journey and I’m very happy to have been part of that journey over the years and we did number of new projects for the Japanese market,” Lamba told Scrip, indicating that he expects to turn entrepreneur from here on.
Details of a replacement for Lamba were not immediately clear, but an executive from Japan is expected to take charge at the helm of Eisai India.
Lot Of Work Done
Lamba is remaining buoyant about Eisai’s India prospects and the continuing pivotal role of the Vizag facility going forward. (Also see "How Eisai Hopes To Expand In India" - Scrip, 18 Nov, 2016.)
The site manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and formulations and also houses one of Eisai's "knowledge centers". It is also seen as a key asset for APIs in Eisai’s 2018 strategic alliance agreement with Japanese generics firm Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., for the generic pharmaceutical business in Japan.
In September this year, the two companies said they had sewn up a collaboration agreement for the generic pharmaceutical business in China. (Also see "Nichi-Iko And Eisai Expand Alliance To China" - Generics Bulletin, 30 Sep, 2019.)
Lamba also referred to the merger of Eisai’s Indian arms and then turning around the business with a “very strong portfolio of products to an expanded portfolio and new launches.” Looking back, the executive said “We did a lot of patient assistance programs. So there was a lot of work done.”
In 2015, Eisai Pharmatechnology and Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd. and Eisai Pharmaceuticals India Pvt. Ltd, both subsidiaries of the Japanese parent, were combined as Eisai Pharmaceuticals India Pvt. Ltd.
The amalgamation was essentially aimed at leveraging the capability of Eisai India’s hi-tech integrated research and manufacturing operations with its specialized sales force to meet its business objectives in India. It also provided a more "rationalized structure" for better efficiency, the Japanese firm said at the time.
Eisai India has, over the recent past, introduced a range of innovative products from its parent company’s portfolio, including Fycompa (perampanel) and Lenvima (lenvatinib mesylate), backed by innovative price planks pivoted around improving patient access, to intensify growth in India.
More recently, Eisai started selling Biogen’s multiple sclerosis portfolio in India and also sealed a licensing deal with Mylan NV for a second brand of Halaven (eribulin mesylate), as the Japanese company seeks to expand availability and access to the anticancer on the Indian market, amid the recent arrival of a cut-price rival. (Also see "Eisai Primes Push For Biogen MS Range In India" - Scrip, 12 Apr, 2018.)
Turning Entrepreneur
While the specific information around Lamba’s departure could not immediately be ascertained, the executive indicated that he expects to wear his entrepreneurial hat - something that’s apparently been on his mind for some time.
“I’ve been weighing plans for a while and finally took a call on that. It’s been 30 years in industry, with the last 12-plus years in Eisai, so I thought this is probably a good time to start my own venture,” he said.
Lamba began his pharma career at MSD (as Merck & Co. Inc. is known outside of the US and Canada) and has also had stints in Pfizer Ltd. and Lupin Ltd., among others.
He also led the technical and supply chain committee of the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, which represents foreign firms in India, and is a strong proponent of efforts to up the quality bar and enforce compliance.