CEO Insights India

As a socially, economically and technologically advanced state of India, Gujarat has been home to numerous intellectual minds. Recognized as one of the prominent industry stalwarts of Gujarat, Lalit Saraswat’s (Director, Baroque Pharma ceuticals) contribution towards the pharmaceutical sector has been hugely acknowledged and appreciated not only across his home state or India but also at a global level. When asked about what inspired his professional voyage into the pharmaceutical domain, Lalit humbly states, “Even if Pharmacy was not a well-known profession when I started my degrees in the 80s, the serendipity turned out to be a blessing because I found my vocation in this profession.” He gladly admits enjoying what he has been doing since then, and this positivity is reflected in his way of working as well. Starting his career as a technical executive a deep-seated inclination towards entrepreneur ship drove Lalit towards marketing and understanding the commercial side of the industry. His journey over the past 28 years, most of which has been with Baroque Pharmaceuticals has been enlightening and enduring. Under his guidance, Baroque Pharmaceuticals has emerged as a fast-growing pharmaceutical company with a strong focus on the supply of excellent quality yet affordable medicines.

Lalit engages in an exclusive interaction with CEOInsights.

How would you define Baroque Pharmaceuticals as an organization and its position in the market? What is the USP of Baroque Pharmaceuticals?
Baroque Pharmaceuticals has burgeoned over the past decade from being a local player in the domestic market to becoming a trusted CDMO with customers not only in India but across more than 35 geographies in South East Asia,

Africa and Latin America. There is an exciting panoply of products across therapies in the acute as well chronic segments. The past few years have seen exhilarating developments like commis sioning of an R&D center for the develop ment of products as global generics for the regulated as well semi regulated markets, expansion of our oral solid and liquid dosage form facilities located in Gujarat, investments into a manufacturing facility in Nigeria to cater to the West African markets. We have initiated the process to get EU approvals for our Penicillin and Cephalosporin facilities hopefully by the end of 2022. A new tablet and capsules facility for general products with a capital expenditure of about 80 crores is at the design stage which we are planning to commission towards the end of next year. We are planning to cater to the EU and US markets as well.

As the Director of Baroque Pharmaceuticals, how do you align your strategies with the company's overall goals?
From cautious coasting to being conservative and now being proactive, our business strategy has emboldened over the past decade. This transformation continues as we now plan to expand our reach in the SEA, Africa and Latam regions and enter into the EU as well as the US markets. Historically, our product portfolio selection used to be more customer centric. Going forward, the approach is more holistic taking into account the potential across the markets where we mean to be present over the next decade. We are entering into therapeutic segments which are meaningful from the global perspective rather than just a regional perspective. Ant infective oral dosage forms, particularly Penicillin and Cephalos porins have been our stronghold. We will continue to consolidate our presence in this segment with the

filing of dossiers in Europe in 2022.Our R&D team is actively working on a range of products that are coming off patent over the next 5 years.These shall be introduced in the US, Europe as well as our existing rest of the world markets. In a nutshell, the company is strongly focused to establish a global presence in the next five years and the development and manufacturing capabilities are being ramped up to achieve our goals.

Which are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction, both at a personal and professional level?
Nothing is more fulfilling than playing your part in the evolution of a company that today caters to the health needs of fellow beings across more than three continents. Other than that, expanding our manufacturing base into Nigeria, burnis hing our R&D capabilities, and marketing contracts with the customer in Europe are gratifying achievements because of their far reaching impact on the growth plans of our company.

Going forward, what are the changes in market behavior and opportunities you foresee?
India has been hailed as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’ and you keep coming across reports that tout theIndian Pharmaceutical industry to reach $130 billion by 2030 from $41.7 billion in 2020. Our industry is well poised to achieve this. SMEs like Baroque will need to focus on strategic product portfolio management based on indepth analysis of the global market rather than some specific geogra phies creating a stable demand. While quality and compliance continue to be of paramount importance, we need to recognize the stiff competition from manufacturers in China and other Asian countries. Better operational efficiency by applying measures to improve productivity of people, overall equipment efficiencies (OEE) and lowering of Capex costs through automation will be the key factor to attain the growth that is being projected for the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

Lalit Saraswat, Director, Baroque Pharmaceuticals
Lalit holds a Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Pune University, India. Having more than 25 Years of technical & strategic experience in pharmaceutical business, he is currently leading Baroque Pharmaceuticals to set and achieve its sustainable global goals.