CEO Insights India

The global healthcare infrastructure is massively dependent on the Indian pharmaceutical sector. Globally, India is the largest supplier of generic medication and exports to more than 200 countries. Valued around $42 billion in 2021, the Indian pharmaceutical sector is driven by its large pool of scientists and engineers as well as state-of the art infrastructure and is estimated to reach around $130 billion by 2030. With more than two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical sector, Nikhil Chopra, Director & CEO of JB Pharma has set an unprecedented growth trajectory for a private equity backed Indian Pharmaceutical company. Under his able leadership, JB Pharma is now the fastest-growing pharmaceutical company in India, with key five brands of the firm being in the top 300 ranks of IPM and the international business spanning over 40 countries.

In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Nikhil discusses JB Pharma’s market position as well as offerings including his leadership style, and much more.

Define JB Pharma as an organization in the pharmaceutical manufacturing domain. Tell us about the firm's offerings and its greatest strengths.
Built on the strong foundation of ethics, teamwork, and patient centricity, JB Pharma has been and still is the fastest-growing Indian pharmaceutical company in the Indian market. The remarkable growth is attributed to the efforts of its people coupled with the market beating performance of the key pillar brands as it stands well above market growth rates.

Additionally, JB’s key five brands are in the top300 ranks of IPM with international business spanning over 40 countries. The continued commitment to deliver on the promise of affordable and quality medication makes JB among the global leaders in medicated

lozenges, serving customers & companies around the world.

The motto of the company is to provide quality and cost-effective medicine across the globe, which has affected a strong governance framework along with a robust pharmacovigilance system and process at JB. Along with JB's established Quality Management System, its pharmacovigilance team enables it to keep patient safety at the heart of all business endeavors. The firm has seven state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities across India, which follow current good manufacturing practices, as supported by various WHO-GMP certificates, and hold international regulatory body certifications such as FDA, USFDA, MHRA, EDQM, and WHO, thereby always underlining the quality mantra for its products.

Describe your leadership style and what has been your success mantra.
Sustainability has also been the corner stone of JB’s unflinching growth in the face of a highly volatile and dynamic market, which encapsulates the company’s relentless progress and approach towards Environment Social Governance (ESG) standards across businesses. Businesses worldwide have been grappling with the best response to challenges wrought on by the pandemic and its impact on the economy and society at large.

As it resumes operations and recoups lost momentum, the global business community resonates with the idea of building back stronger. In this regard, I believe in striving towards achieving operational excellence, work force agility, and cascading sustainable practices across the organization to revitalize our business.

How do you ensure to make the company’s offerings stay on the competitive edge among its peers in the market?
JB Pharma has ended the year(FY 21-22) with a healthy growth rate more than 20 percent and the operating EBITDA also going well beyond this rate, which is in line

with the guidance declared and continues to bolster investor confidence in the company. Over 15 new product launches have also energized the Indian business which is a combination of pediatrics, respiratory, and metabolic which will help in gaining traction in new prescriptions.

JB has also looked at inorganic growth with the acquisition of Sanzyme, for a healthy Rs.650 crores which I believe would present a huge opportunity for JB in Probiotics. I was also instrumental in the acquisition of Azmarda from Novartis,which is in ‘heart failure’. This would mean that the march towards breaking into the top 20 of the Indian Pharmaceutical market is real with double digit growth commitment in the international markets which would further spur overall growth in the EBIDTA margins of 24-26 percent.

Tell us about the technology framework and latest innovations of the company. Under your administration which are the latest technologies that have been adopted?
At JB Pharma, we aim to continuously invest in technological advancements to be at the forefront of our core business. Our focus is on providing quality and affordable medicines through our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.

JB is amongst a handful of companies in India to successfully implement Osmotic release technology for some of its medicines. This technology is an advanced controlled-release oral drug delivery system in the form of a rigid tablet with a semi permeable outer membrane and a small, laser drilled hole in it. It is built for a sustained release of the drug over 24 hours.

Nikhil Chopra, Director & CEO, JB Pharma
Nikhil Chopra, CEO & Whole Time Director at JBPharma is an a stute business leader with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical space demonstrating a consistent record of sustainable growth and shareholder value creation. In a career spanning over two decades, he has spearheaded breakthrough ideas focused on creating greater access to high-quality treatment and medicines and has gained a significant competitive advantage over peers, especially in therapies such as Respiratory, Urology, HIV, and Pediatric Care.