INSPIRE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
INSPIRING YOU TO
BE AN INSPIRATION
We do not have to go too far in our quest for inspiration. It exists around us, within us, and just needs to be ignited to begin something new. Here is a glimpse of some of our most inspirational stories. We learn from them, wear them proudly and tell them to the world, as we believe there is nothing quite like Glenmark.
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Antibodies detect and protect our body from infectious agents that attack like parasites, viruses, etc. Artificially synthesized monoclonal antibodies are being widely used in the treatment of various diseases including cancer. However, these antibodies can only bind to one specific type of antigen.
Engaging two targets with one bispecific antibody is an attractive concept to design new therapeutics, but for over two decades bispecific antibodies had been a challenge to the industry since all bispecific formats developed so far had stability and/or manufacturing issues.
Glenmark scientists based at our NBE research facility in Neuchatel, Switzerland began research to solve some of the engineering problems & looked to nature to see how it could be done. They were able to isolate the components that induced the two different chains of the T cell receptor to naturally combine and introduced them into antibody chains, thereby bringing two different binding arms together.
This best-in-class technology based on bio-mimicry was named BEAT (Bispecific Engagement by Antibodies based on the T-cell receptor) and is a proprietary bispecific antibody platform of Glenmark. GBR 1302, our first clinical development candidate in oncology, was developed using the proprietary BEAT platform. It is a bispecific antibody that has the potential to revolutionize the treatment paradigm in breast cancer and pave the way for more effective treatments in other forms of difficult to treat cancers.
Glenmark Europe started in late 2000s with generic and branded generics business. While the business grew to more than USD 140 million, the ambition of Glenmark Europe was to align with the focused therapeutic segments of the company globally. Respiratory was one such area.
The target was and still is to commercialize the biggest products in the respiratory device segment. Fluticasone and Salmeterol DPI or Seretide was amongst the biggest in Europe with sales of about USD 1 billion and presented us with a huge opportunity. The search for a generic version of Seretide Accuhaler product – Fluticasone/Salmeterol DPI in Europe ended with the identification of a local Polish company called Celon Pharmaceuticals in late 2014. Glenmark signed a licensing and supply agreement with Celon in 2015 through which Glenmark obtained semi-exclusive marketing and distribution rights for the product across 15 European countries.
We embarked upon an innovative phased registration strategy, while development and studies continued in parallel. There were a number of challenges to ensure we secured registrations but our cross-functional teams remained committed. Finally their efforts resulted in Glenmark successfully completing the registration of the product in Nordic countries in 2018.
Not only registration, but Glenmark was also the first company to get substitution granted in Denmark, Norway and Sweden for a DPI giving us a huge competitive advantage. The commercial team in Nordics did an excellent job, and the product is already on track to be the biggest launch in the history of Glenmark Europe. The story is not complete yet, and launches in other key markets are expected shortly.
We set out with an ambition to establish ourselves in the OTC segment so as to complete our presence in all key offerings of the healthcare value chain; but a highly competitive and crowded space meant that we would need to come up with an innovative strategy to make a niche for ourselves as well as catch up on the time to make up for our late entry into OTC. We decided to explore the untapped potential of feminine hygiene products even though entering in such an unestablished category was a huge risk.
We were able to make a very strong entry because of a sharp understanding of consumer needs and insights. This understanding helped us come up with a host of inventive campaigns to increase awareness, impactful communication strategies and plans to remain focussed on availability at the point of sale. Thereafter, expanding into Modern Trade, Cosmetics Outlets, E-commerce and other digital platforms gave us an additional boost.
Encouraged by the success of VWash, we went on to launch other innovative products such as Candid Powder, Candid Activ (India’s first anti-perspirant Talc), Scalpe+, Scalpe Pro, etc. Now our OTC business has grown at 73% CAGR in the last 5 years. Thus Glenmark’s OTC initiative has reached a scale & threshold size which has set new benchmarks within the OTC industry & is considered a best-in-class OTC business launch in India in recent times.