THE EDITORIAL

Dear all,
CONTENTS
It gives us immense pleasure to bring you the 1st edition
of our monthly published newsletter “THE PUMBA •Cover story
GAZETTE”.
-Exploring the unexplored niche market of hangover pills.
This edition we bring to you an exclusive interview with
Ms. Aarushi Sukhdev (Manager-BD Advanced Markets)
•Articles/Analysis
Lupin India. She comments on current USFDA
Regulation and its impact on the Indian Pharmaceutical
- Effect of recession on Pharma Industry and IT –Pharma
industry.
analysis
We also bring to you a 12 part series on various
noteworthy CSR initiatives. This series reflects Corporate •Back to Society
India’s commitment to be strong, united and progressive
Nation. The series titled “Back to Society”, focuses on
-TAAL Initiative by EMCURE and NMP+
various ongoing CSR projects.

With the current New Year bash and the increased •Industry Speaks
consumption of alcohol, our students have undertaken a
project -Exploring the niche market of hangover pills.
-Candid talk with Ms. Aarushi Sukhdev of LUPIN
The IT-Pharma analysis is a report which tells us about
the recent changing market values of pharma companies •PUMBA News
as compared to IT companies.
-MBA-BT: An Introduction
Also, a section based on PUMBA and the year gone by is
included in this issue. -Events at PUMBA

THE PUMBA GAZETTE is committed to maintain the

QUALITY and CONSISTENCY of articles & ensures that
we offer you more in the forthcoming editions.

Your Feedback & Suggestions are welcome at

thepumbagazette@gmail.com

Wish you a HAPPY READING…!

Sincerely Yours,

THE PUMBA GAZETTE Team

(The detailed project reports shall be provided on

enquiry. Kindly send in your enquiries at
thepumbagazette@gmail.com )
“AN UNEXPLORED NICHE MARKET”

Every year December arrives and brings along with it the

party season. Partying, today for the youth is
synonymous with drinking alcohol. The next day,
however is a day of hangovers for almost 40% of the
people.

Reports suggest that there has been a 60%

increase in the alcohol consumption amongst the Indians
within the age group of 25-30 years in the year 2007-
2008. Understanding the increasing need of the
hangover pills, a survey was carried out in Pune city,
which aimed at gauging the awareness of hangover pills,
among the chemists and people between the age group
21 to 30 years. Of the total chemists surveyed, only 12%
stocked hangover pills. However another 10% of the
chemists surveyed used to stock these pills in the past,
but due to lack of demand for these pills they do not
stock these pills any more. Majority of the remaining
chemists were aware of the hangover pills but did not
stock the pills. The awareness among people was found
to be only 25%.

Another issue that was noted during the survey was

the apprehension among people to directly ask for the
hangover pills

There is a large untapped market for such pills, and the

key to tap this would be creating awareness amongst
people, which would ultimately lead to a better demand.

APPROCHES

Possible approaches to this problem as discussed by the

team are through the medium of promotion of the pills.

1. Promotion through distribution of free samples,

targeted in the specific period of Christmas to New year.

2. Any possible tie-ups with alcohol companies leading

to a dual promotion of the alcohol brand and the
hangover pill could be beneficial to both companies.
Compiled by: Vasudha Shashank, Rohit Shinde, Babhuti
3. Event promotions to high end customers, and indirect Fotedar, Kunal Borase, Amol Dhore. MBA- BT Sem II .
promotion by increasing awareness amongst women.
Mentor: Nachiket Kale, MBA-BT Sem IV .
To make the most of this untapped market, any
company that undertakes aggressive awareness and
marketing drive , might be able to capture a large market
and establish dominance in this segment

RECESSION HITS HERE TOO...
India's biotechnology industry is confident of excellent
augmentation in the coming years despite global
meltdown.
India is emerging as a potential destination for
biotechnological research and development for
companies, worldwide. The industry is also grappling with
global meltdown, as it has paved way for a lot of joint
ventures and collaboration among foreign and domestic
biotech companies in the current fiscal year.
The collaborations are being looked upon as means to
bring down the cost of developing products, to make the
entire process quite affordable.
The scenario on one hand looks favourable for the Indian
biotech firms, however the industry should focus on
acquiring biotechnology units in foreign countries like the
US, where the valuations of most of the foreign biotech
companies have receded due to global meltdown. Global
meltdown will also benefit the Indian firms as it may
attract key talent from the foreign companies.
However, funding in biotech companies may be
affected…causing a decline in the growth of this sector.
The global meltdown may affect flow of funds to the bio-
technology sector, but from the Indian context, it could
create partnering opportunities with global companies, as
per the analysis given by Ernst and Young.
Compared to 2007 when $29 billion funding was
available for bio-technology worldwide, 2008 could turn
out to be a challenging year for funding, said Mr.
Palnitkar, consultant for the Genome Valley. But this is
the time for Indian companies to change their mindset
and opt for risk and reward model to benefit in the long
run and look for profitable acquisitions in the U.S. and
Europe.
Like wise, the life science industry too is affected in many
ways and that in turn has effected the budget proposals
of 2009. There is an apprehension that the Government
may cut down the R&D expenditure. The ones mainly
affected would be the companies, who have heavily
invested in R&D and that too for companies outside
India, who will now have to face increased cost pressure
Unlike the global pharmaceutical industry, the Asian
Pharma industry has faced no direct effect of economy
crisis but it will have some impact on the niche and
upcoming biotechnology sector, which is heavily
dependent on financing and venture capital or
government support. However, the biotechnology
industry may have a hard time ahead, as these
companies will likely face a problem in raising capital.
Also, the valuation of these companies might drop when
they look for being acquired by big Pharma companies.
The US dollar and Euro have appreciated vis-à-vis the
rupee by approx 20-25 per cent in the past 4 months.
This is forcing scientists to either postpone their
purchases or compromise on instrument specifications to
fit their purchases within budget; which is majorly
affecting the scientific instrument industry.
Also, the inflation and rise in fuel prices has increased
business expenditure on travel and supply chain across
the board, for all industry. This is resulting in increased
pressures on margins for the scientific instrument
industry. The Indian clinical research organisations
(CROs), however, do not see any near-term impact of
recession, as large Pharma customers such as
AstraZeneca and Glaxo continue to delegate more work
to India, where these trials could be conducted at one-
fifth of the cost incurred in the US.
According to a joint study done by research firm KPMG
and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),the $200-
million Indian clinical research outsourcing market will
reach up to $600 million by 2010.Ajit Mahadevan,
partner- Health sciences practice, Ernst & Young India,
said “Credit restrictions will prompt global biotech
companies to see greater favour in outsourcing clinical
trials to India.”
While the meltdown, promises to strengthen large
Pharma players, the outlook is far from positive for small
biotech players
The crisis is set to change the balance between the
Pharma and biotech companies, with the Pharma
companies on one hand all set to acquire biotech firms
and the biotech firms on other hand struggling with
capital raising, licensing deals and funding operation..
By: Prachi Waral, MBA-BT Sem II.
 MOVING AVERAGE
ANALYSING TRENDS
(Comparison between Pharma and IT companies)

Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility in relation to the market. The

Beta function compares changes in a field to changes in a benchmark
index over a given period of time. By definition, the market has a beta of
1.0, and individual stocks are ranked according to how much they
deviate from the market. A stock that swings more than the market over
time has a beta above 1.0. If a stock moves less than the market, the
stock's beta is less than 1.0. High-beta stocks are supposed to be
riskier but provide a potential for higher returns; low-beta stocks pose
less risk but also lower returns .If Beta value for company X is 0.90 and
company Y is 1.10 this implies that X is 10% less and Y is 10% more
volatile than the index.

The Beta values of major Pharma and IT companies over a

period of last four months

(Sept 2008 –Dec 2008) are as follows-:

Pharma Beta IT Companies Beta

Companies Value* Value*

SUN PHARMA 0.260

TCS 0.9507

NOVARTIS 0.120 INFOSYS 0.649

RANBAXY 0.709 WIPRO TECH. 1.0157

GSK 0.239 HCL 1.067

Dr. REDDY’S 0.316 PATNI 0.7589

PIRAMAL 0.461 TECH MAHINDRA 1.369

HEALTHCARE *15 days Moving average calculated for the period of 1st Sept. to 31st
Dec. 08.
L&T 1.0891
CIPLA 0.587 Moving averages are used to emphasize the direction of a
trend and to smooth out price and volume fluctuations, or "noise", that
SATYAM 1.001 can confuse interpretation. The collected data, for stock values of
IPCA Labs 0.439
Ranbaxy & Tech Mahindra, has shown maximum change in the stock
prices amongst observed Pharma companies & IT companies
MPHASIS 0.8342
LUPIN 0.635 respectively, for the period of 1st Sept. to 31st Dec. 08. Novartis and
Infosys showed the minimum, while Ranbaxy and Tech Mahindra
NIIT TECH 0.678 showed the maximum percentage change in the Pharma and IT sector
PFIZER 0.288 respectively.

The graphs of their moving average show that in the period of

*The closing stock prices of each of the 10 Pharma and IT companies
were collected from www.bseindia.com and the Beta values were
calculated by PUMBA Gazette team.
As seen from the table the beta value of Novartis is 0.12
which implies that Novartis is 88% less volatile than the stock market. It
is observed that the Beta values of the above major Pharma
Companies is less than 1 and for most of the above major IT
companies, it is more than 1. Thus, we can infer from the above data
that the Pharma sector is less sensitive to the market fluctuations than
the IT sector.
last four months of global meltdown, Pharma companies like Novartis
and Ranbaxy showed relatively stable trend as compared to IT
companies like Infosys and Tech Mahindra( the black bolded para is not
beein included in the main draft, please do include this as well ).
Compiled by: Dhruva Deshpande,Vandita Javali, Nidhi Nirmal,
Soumya Gupta, Animesh Sarkar, Tejaswini Lunkad, Ankita Barve, Kiran
Dond, Birendra Choubey, Vijendra Agarwa .MBA-BT Sem II
Mentor: Shilpa Bhide (A.C.A., M.Com, SET, LLB, DCM, M.Phil) ,
Faculty PUMBA.
INDUSTRY SPEAKS:
Ms. Aarushi Sukhdev , an alumnus of PUMBA (MBA-BT batch 2005) , is currently working with Lupin India, as
Manager-Business Developments for advanced markets. Her job entails regular interaction with the advanced markets
and the regulatory bodies.
Our editors had a candid talk with her regarding the USFDA regulation and its impact on the Indian Pharma industry.
1) Recently the major Indian Pharma manufacturers like
Ranbaxy, Lupin etc. are under USFDA scanner. What
according to you are the reasons for the same?
Regulators from mature markets typically inspect every site
that manufactures bulk drugs and formulations for their
markets once in 2-3 years. This is to ensure that these sites
are fully compliant with regulations, which keep getting
tighter all the time.
Hence few inspections pass off without inspectional
observations. Companies typically get to know the view of
the inspectors immediately post the inspection. Only when
the observations are quite serious in nature and the FDA is
not satisfied with the company's replies, then it is forced to
act. The action, which could take 4-10 weeks to be
formalized post the inspection, could be in terms of warning
letter, delaying new product approvals and banning of
drugs manufactured in the unit.
As far as Lupin is concerned, the FDA inspection passed on
reasonably well with 15 inspectional observations of which it
addressed 8 right away and is also addressing the others.
The inspection is a routine one, similar to the earlier ones
done in 2003 (with 9 inspectional observations) and 2006 (0
observations). The outcome of this inspection neither
affected the supply of drugs nor any approvals for this site
were kept pending by the USFDA.
2) Do you think there is an upsurge in such incidences
in 2008?
Like I said above, inspections do take place regularly to
ensure that the manufacturers comply with the regulations
all the time.
3) Is it so that only the Indian companies are being
targeted?
(Laughs.).Well, many people are under the notion that it’s
only the Indian Pharma companies that are under the
limelight, but as such that is not the case.
Barr labs faced product suspension and recall in 1993 and
had to reimburse inspection costs, and Able labs recalled all
its drugs in 2005 following an inspection and filed for
bankruptcy. Also Schering Plough, Wyeth and Abbott have
paid fines to the FDA for violating GMP guidelines.
Infact, recently a Chinese producer Changzhou SP , found
supplying contaminated Heparin in the US, was asked to
stop production from its plant, following an FDA inspection
in Feb 2008. USFDA has a certain set of rules and
regulation which are applicable to all the companies
supplying their drugs to the US markets and not only to the
Indian Pharma companies.
4) There are multiple competitors and stringent
regulation in US market. But still all the companies are
aggressively looking forward to entering the US market,
why is it so?
US market accounts for 45% of total Pharma market in the
world and this percentage is the biggest temptation for all
the Pharma companies worldwide. This itself answers why
the companies are looking on to enter the US market.
But, recent reports have shown that growth in the US
market is slowing and as a result of this, the Pharma
companies are also exploring the other markets.
5) Which are the unexplored markets in that case?
Certain European markets, Brazil, Japan and Russia are
offering new growth opportunities. The developing countries
have growing populations leading to increased healthcare
needs and less of competition, which attracts
pharmaceutical companies.
Lupin has made certain acquisitions in Japan and other
countries. These regional companies come with local
expertise and we believe this would be a win-win situation
for both of the companies.
6) Could you tell us something about the “180 day
exclusivity period”?
Well…when the first generic company files a Paragraph IV
certification to a patent which is listed in the Orange Book, it
becomes the first filer. As per the Hatch Waxman
Amendments, this company is awarded 180 days of market
exclusivity upon a successful patent challenge. This acts as
a reward for the generic manufacturer who is willing to risk
liability in court and the cost of patent court litigation.
7) What are the strategies used by drug makers to avoid
these litigation costs?
Any new drug, when it enters the market gets 5-year “NCE”
exclusivity by USFDA. Thus there can’t be any generic entry
during this period; the earliest we can file a Para IV
th
certification is on the (NCE-1) date. However, with
increasing competition, even on this date there are a large
number of filers present, leading to a shared exclusivity.
Thus, many of them opt for a patent challenge settlement to
protect the interests of both the parties. However, these
settlements are also scrutinized by the FTC to ensure that
they are not anti-competitive in nature.Also many a times
the innovator company gives an authorized generic to a
generic company.
8) Well, lastly do you think these recent inspections are
going to affect the Indian Pharma Industry?
No.If we look at the long-term prospects of the Pharma
Industry, we are growing at a very healthy rate. Such an
event might create uneasiness for a short period, but as
long as companies adhere to GMP’s, random instances like
these would not hamper the Indian Pharma Industry.
 7

BACK TO SOCIETY-SERIES 1
“TAAL” INTIATIVE OF EMCURE AND NMP+

India has entered a critical period in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Spread Benefits to the Company
of the virus appears to be stable or diminishing in some parts of the
"TAAL" has helped in proving EMCURE and NMP+ as socially
country, while growing at modest rates in others. In terms of numbers,
responsible brands. EMCURE directly provides drugs to TAAL without
approximately six million people are suffering from AIDS in India and
entertaining any retailers or distributors, thereby cutting out the cost
17,300 in Pune itself . According to other estimates, 40 million people
involved in supply chain and marketing activities. This proves the
are HIV positive and 25 million people have died from AIDS (As per the
company's contribution to the society at large and the market prudence.
data available from NMP+). There are many Government initiated Anti
THE PUMBA GAZETTE team met some of the patients registered at
Retroviral Therapy (ART) centres, where free drugs are administered
TAAL and Govt ART centers and compared the two initiatives on the
but with a lot of inconvenience. The number of patients who visit these
basis of following parameters:
centres are 300 per day and the centres are open for only 5 hours a day.
The registration process is cumbersome and requires a lot of time. The Availability of drugs, Anonymity/Confidentiality, Accessibility, Cost and
patients are not assured of confidentiality. The second line ART drugs is Personalised Counselling.
not available as of today, though efforts are being made by the Govt to
make them available by 2010.
Parameters TAAL GOVT ART
This is the reason why many companies in India are coming up with
CSR activity for AIDS. One such successful initiative is “TAAL”, a joint
effort by EMCURE and NMP+. This activity aims at the middle class and Availability

upper middle class patients. This initiative shows that the company 1 Availability of First Yes Yes
recognizes HIV not specific to social strata. Line ART Drugs

2.Availability of Second Yes No*

Motivation for TAAL Line ART Drugs
Benefits to the society 3.Availability of No** Yes
In our society AIDS is not only treated as a disease, but also as a stigma Opportunistic Drugs
and the patients are castrated from the society like criminals. TAAL has
Confidentiality Yes Yes***
an entirely different approach towards these patients and deals with
Accessibility Yes Yes
them with a lot of care and support ,which they actually need. Personal
counselling is done and patients are motivated to lead a normal life. Only Cost Subsided Free
15-20 people visit the pharmacy everyday, hence personal attention to
Counselling Personalised General
every individual is possible. The drugs are provided at subsidised rates
and 60% lesser than the MRP. Till date about 600 patients have *Available only in Chennai and Mumbai.
registered with TAAL, and 300 -400in remaining 5 centres which have ** They are available at market price.
***Registration process is cumbersome so maintaining
been recently opened up. The NMP+ referral system works in 35
confidentiality
districts of Maharashtra and reaches out to 28000 people. And most is difficult.
importantly, confidentiality is strictly maintained in context of a patient’s
Compiled by: Ameya Budukh, Nivedita Singh, Birendra Choubey.
medical information.
MBA- BT Sem II.

Mentor: Danesh Irani. MBA- BT Sem IV.

 8

MBA-BT: AN INTRODUCTION

ABOUT PUMBA:
Founded in 1971, The Department of Management
Sciences (PUMBA), University of Pune has been a centre of
learning and development for students from various walks of
life. It has been an undying rooting mechanism for budding
a path-breaking initiative, to help catalyze and direct
managers and entrepreneurs all over India. The department this technology revolution, and launched a two year
has been constantly metamorphosing itself to be at the fulltime MBA programme in Biotechnology, from the
forefront of the evolutionary academic entity on one side
academic year 2002-03’.
and a skilled human resource provider to the corporate
world on the other.
MBA-BIOTECHNOLOGY:
MBA Biotechnology is one of the new disciplines in
MAJOR RECRUITERS:
management, encompassing management and
biotechnology. The need of such a course was realized with
the growing potential of biotechnology as a sector in Indian
and international markets.
Biotechnology is being acclaimed as the new frontier for
knowledge development at national as well as international
levels. Biotechnology being a knowledge intensive industry,
it is forecasted that India will have a competitive advantage
and opportunity, as seen in the case of the information
technology industry. To ensure that this opportunity is fully
utilized and developed for national economic benefit, there
is a vital need for well-trained manpower, both technological
and managerial. Also managerial manpower, with
biotechnology specialization, will be needed to play an
entrepreneurial role and to manage effective and efficient
commercial utilization of the biotechnological research
outcomes. The biotechnology focused manager should also
monitor the socio-economic and ethical issues so that the
technology is harnessed and applied for a holistic
betterment of mankind on the whole.

Realizing this crucial need The Department of Management

Sciences, University of Pune has taken

OUR INSPIRATION:
YEAR 2008

HR RENDEZVOUS

HR Rendezvous, 08’, held on the 18th of October,08’ was organized by

the Seminar Cell, PUMBA wherein case studies, regarding problems
faced by Human resource managers, were enacted in front of a panel of
experts. The panel consisted of eminent human resource managers of
various companies, who give their valuable insights and solutions to the
problems depicted in each play. The esteemed guests and panelists
present were Mr. Augustus Mallier, Director HR, Mercedes Benz
India Ltd.; Mr. Jitendra Paturkar, Asst. General Manager-HR, Ubics;
Ms. Suma Nambiar, Manager-HR, Maersk Global Centre India Pvt.
Ltd.; Prof. V.K.Bhide; Mr. Bhushan Apalgatti, Director HR-NVINDIA;
Mr. G.S.Uppal, Executive Director, HR & Admin. Volkswagen India
Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Rajendra Sabnis, General Manager-Corporate HR &
Admin, Poonawalla Group; Mr. N. Barethiya, Head HR, Hindustan
Coca Cola Beverages Ltd.

The HR Rendezvous,08’ , organized in the PUMBA auditorium, was

initiated with the lightening of the lamp by the esteemed guests. Pre-
lunch, the first play depicted an employee working in a company, who
had manipulated his curriculum vitae in order to secure his job.

The second case was about how an HR manager should deal with
cases wherein there are efficient employees whose performance is
affected due to some serious health issues faced by them. The post
lunch session started with a panel discussion on HRE’s role in
developing high performance competitive leaders. This was followed by
the third case, about gender inequality at the work place and also the
resistance by men to women occupying senior positions in the
organization.

SEMINAR BY MR. SUDHIR KANT, PRESIDENT, MILLIPORE (INDIA)

PVT. LTD.

Mr. Sudhir Kant, a chemical Engineer and MBA in marketing, has a

Mr. Sudhir Kant, President,Millipore India
successful corporate career spanning two decades in key positions.
With U.S. Multinational, Millipore, he is currently heading the Indian
Operations as President for Millipore (India), based at Peenya,
Bangalore. Sir graced the students of MBA Biotechnology with his
valuable advice and insights about the roles of a manager in the
biotechnology industry. He educated us about the important stepping
stones and limiting aspects of the life of a manager in a biotech based
company, with the help of a very animated and interactive semina

VODAFONE PUNE INTERNATIONAL MARATHON (AIDS CHARITY

RUN),08’7th December, 2008 was indeed a memorable day for
PUMBA. The 4.5km AIDS rally, which began from Alka Bridge and
ended at the Nehru Stadium, was flagged off by Priyanka Chopra. The
guests present for the event included Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, the Sports
Minister, Anjali Bhagwat, Vijender Singh, Dhanraj Pillay, Priyanka
Chopra & Rahul Bose. More than 10,000 runners from all walks of life
took to the streets of Pune. The PUMBA team won awards for the
“Largest Group”, “Best Creative Attire” and “Best Slogans”.
Winning 3 awards at the Vodafone Pune International Marathon (AIDS
Charity Run) was not an easy task. The PUMBAites had put in a lot of
hard work, right from designing T-shirts with the PUMBA tagline to
writing creative slogans to preparing placards and posters. Some of the
slogans were ‘Think Twice, Be Wise, coz later you won’t have a
Choice’, ‘Zindagi Ek safar hai suhana, AIDS pakar ise na gavana’,
‘Dilon dilon mein nara hai, AIDS ko hatana hai’.