An intelligent and patient-friendly chatbot is trained to help patients with health-related concerns: Rajeev Sibal, Lupin

Rajeev Sibal, President India Business, Lupin Limited, speaks about his view on pharma business in India, pricing scenario and chatbot among others during an interview with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business. Edited excerpts: 

What is your view of the overall business of the pharma sector? Do you think that the margin can improve by 10-15% in the next 2-3 years?
Indian pharmaceutical market has grown at 10-11% in the last 4-5 years and if you see the growth of Lupin, that it has grown by 16% from 2014 to 2018. I think that the market will continue to grow by 9-10% in future and Lupin, which has always been ahead of the market, will continue to grow better than the market. 

Let us know about Indian business contribution, in terms of %age, to overall sales? 
India is the second biggest market for Lupin after the US. Japan stands at the third position. India business will have a contribution of around 27-28% in overall Lupin sales. 

How many launches are expected in the next one and a half years or till 2020 and let us know about the kind of launches?
Lupin has been launching 15-20 medicines every year on an average and I hope that we will continue to launch 15-20 products in the market. In fact, diabetes, cardiology and respiratory are major therapy areas for Lupin and we have tie-ups with several multi-national companies in the segment. This is something that enables us to launch inline products. Diabetes therapy is an area, and interestingly, we are a company that has almost every product that is required by a diabetes patient. 

Let us know about India's pricing scenario against other markets?
Every time, when the pricing regulation, the National List of Essential Medicines, is announced it has an impact on our sales and profit. Prices of certain therapies are reduced through such announcement which is compensated through increased volume, consumption and new launches. 
 
Name the things that are going to be the growth drivers of your business in 2019?
Lupin is an organisation whose growth rate is better than the market and we will continue growing in the same style in future .i.e. we will grow better than the market. We will be focusing on chronic diseases, like cardiovascular, diabetes and respiratory, that has a contribution of 58% in Lupin's business.

While acute has a contribution of 42%. This percentage goes against the market trend where acute has a contribution of 65% and chronic content is just 35%. Chronic, a non-communicable disease, which is a lifestyle disease is a better growth driver for us as they are increasing number wise. We will also be expanding ourselves in few other chronic diseases like GI and Derma. 

What are your view of Aayushman Bharat and its impact on the domestic pharmaceutical market? 
Aayushman is a very good move of the government as the insurance and the willingness to provide better medical facilities to the patient will help in increasing the market.  

What is your view on India's first Chatbot that has been launched by Lupin to assist diabetic patients?   
India represents 49% of the disease burden of diabetes in the world. India is a home of nearly 72 million diabetic patients and this is a reason that the patients should be educated about diabetes therapy. Lupin has introduced an intelligent, smart and patient-friendly Chatbot to educate patients about the disease.