Speciality segment to be a key growth driver for Sun Pharma

Drug major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries today said it has identified speciality segment as one of the key drivers for growth going forward.

The global pharmaceutical landscape is rapidly changing. There are opportunities as well as challenges. This mandates identifying new and profitable growth drivers in order to generate consistent shareholder value, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries MD Dilip Shanghvi toady said at the company's AGM.

"We have identified the speciality segment as one such driver which can help us transition up the value chain," he added.

The company's speciality initiatives target the global market with the US being one of the important markets, Shanghvi said.

"Our strategy entails building a pipeline of patented products for global markets with a focus on improving patient outcomes either by targeting unmet medical needs or by enhancing patient convenience through differentiated dosage forms," he added.

For the year under review, Sun Pharma significantly enhanced its global speciality pipeline through acquisitions and partnerships and made substantial progress in successfully completing clinical trials for key products, Shanghvi said.

The company now has four commercialised speciality products in the US market, he added.

"We have started investing in building the speciality teams in the US and towards establishing the requisite front- end infrastructure," Shanghvi said.

While these investments currently do not generate commensurate revenues streams, they will augur well for the company in the long term as more speciality products get commercialised, he added.