Pharmacy

...says Dr Lukas Utiger, Executive Vice President and Head - Bioscience, Lonza, Maryland, US. Lonza is headquartered in Base!, Switzerland and Is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In 2010, the company had sales of CHF 2.680 billion. Speaking during the sidelines of recently concluded BloAsia 2011, Hyderabad/ Dr Utiger shares his vision for Lonza in India.

Arshia Khan & DrAsma Mohd Yousuf

Lonza is a global leader in the production and support of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) both chemically and biotechnologically. Biopharmaceuticals are one of the key growth drivers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. From 1897 to the present day, combining Swiss tradition with global experience, the company has had an enterprising character, adapting its offerings and services to the needs of customers and to changing technologies. We have maintained a strong culture of performance, results and dependability that is valued by all of our customers. And it is through reliability, quality and dependability that a brand stands out.

Growth drivers and business model

Today it has become essential to find new form of cures for the existing chronic diseases. There is a need for biosimilars in the market. Also, there should be a strong focus on the development of small molecules, which includes chemical, pharmaceutical, protein, cells, antibodies, etc. Lonza has strong capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides, amino acids and niche bioproducts, which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. In addition, Lonza is a leader in cell-based research, endotoxin detection and cell

therapy manufacturing. Furthermore, the company is a leading provider of value chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition, hygiene, preservation, agro and personal care markets. Moreover, Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Products and services span its customers' needs from research to final product manufacture. Our focus is to develop as well manufacture molecules. R&D is a very crucial element of our business model.

Career graph at Lonza

• Dr Lukas Utiger holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, London. He has also worked at ICI Chemicals & Polymers Division in Runcorn (1988-1992). He joined Lonza as Development Engineer in R&D engineer, Switzerland in 1992.

• In 1998, he worked as Group Leader - Process R&D, Fine Chemical Div, Switzerland

• From 2000 to 2001, he was the R&D Head Exclusive Synthesis (Chemical Custom Manufacturing), Switzerland

• From 2001 to 2006, he was Business Head - Exclusive Synthesis (Chemical Custom Manufacturing), Switzerland

• From 2006 to 2010, he was COO - Life Science Ingredients Business Sector, Switzerland

• From 2010 he is the Executive Vice President and Head - Lonza Biosciences, Maryland, USA                                                      

• Also, since 2001 he is a member of the Lonza Group, Management Committee

India strategy

India's share in the global biotech market is about two per cent. However, India is not strong when it comes to patented drugs. There is hardly any discovery R&D being conducted on proteins, biosimilars and biotech products in India. Our investments ire 300 million Swiss Francs per year In biopharma, and major part of the Investment will be in Asia; last year investments were made in Singapore and China, and this year, we plan To focus our investments in India. We are setting up Lonza R&D and manufacturing facilities in the Genome Valley, Hyderabad. This knowledge centre set-up will have both the R&D and sales unit, which will help in larger operation.

"In the phase I, Lonza is setting up state-of-the-art R&D centre to conduct research in cell biology, scale- up and process optimisation research in the area of regenerative medicines, new biocides formulations in hygiene and preservation, and advance protein sciences (APS) to come up with predictive models for immunogenicity in   bio-pharmaceuticals   including biosimilars," says Dr Harry Rathore,

Managing Director 6- Head, Lonza

India Operations.

USP of Indian life sciences segment

The Indian government has been very active. This was evident from the proactive administration of the Andhra Pradesh State Government that has enabled the establishment of Genome Valley, which is a knowledge gateway for biopharmaceutical companies.

Also, the approval system in India is fast as compared to other countries. Besides, the infrastructural development in India is a plus point. With the large English speaking population and adequate availability of trained and efficient manpower and scientists, it is increasingly gaining importance for R&D. Hence, progress is expected at a faster pace in India. However, high tariffs on import

of materials and taxes are some of the

challenges that have to be smoothened.

Your success mantra

Environment consciousness is very important. We know our responsibility in the area of safety, health and environmental protection towards our employees, human society, and we will continue to improve and optimize our performance. The safety and health of our employees, the well being of our stakeholders and minimization of our impact on the natural environment remains a group priority. We focus on green building. At Lonza, we use incinerators that are highly efficient in waste management. Besides, we also take steps to reduce or re-utilize energy consumption by utilizing solar energy panels in our R6-D site.

Ten years hence

At Lonza, we make optimal use of and further develop high-tech biology and chemical technology platforms. In bioscience, currently our focus is on specific areas like developing therapies for cardiovascular diseases, central nervous system disorders, diabetes and obesity, as well as protein cancer treatment. However, in future, we would also focus on nutraceuticals that have an important role in treating diseases. Further, development and manufacture of nucleotides, drug conjugates and cell therapy will also be our areas of concentration. Our focus at Lonza is serving customer's R&D and manufacturing needs in clearly denned life science markets, and optimal utilization and further development of our high-tech biology and chemical technology platforms. Our endevours are in creating a platform for long- term, sustainable, above average, profitable growth.

Over the last two decades life sciences segment in India has witnessed an exciting growth in small molecule API and formulations for global markets. Many companies in India are expanding their expertise from vaccines to biosimilars (or inter- changeable biologies), from insulin to insulin analogues. Large scale producton of these biologic drugs including regenerative medicines will bring unique challenges for Indian companies. Building talent pool and enacting regulatory pathways for these drugs may slow down availabilities of these therapies to Indian consumers. Global pharma majors will be keen to acquire Indian companies or form strategic alliance. All in all, future of the life science segment in India looks bright.