Bayer India to double sales to 1 b euro by 2015

MUMBAI, November 17, 2011(Tehelkanews)

Bayer AG, the diversified German multinational with a global presence in pharmaceuticals, crop science and material science, expects to double sales in India to 1 billion euro by 2015 according to Marijn Dekkers, Chairman, Bayer Group.



While providing a "Perspective on growth in Asia", for the Bayer Group on video-satellite from Shanghai, Dr. Dekkers said the group plans to further expand its production, distribution network and research activities in Asia and considerably increase sales in the region. "We aim to achieve a more than 60 per cent increase in our sales in Asia by 2015 which would mean annual sales of well over 11 billion euro by 2015 with 6 billion euro coming from China."



The company has been building up its Asian workforce which increased 8 per cent in the last 12 months. Employee count in Asia could increase from 23,700 in 2010 to more than 30,000 by 2015 during which time a capital expenditure of around 1.8 billion euro is planned. Providing a perspective on the Indian pharmaceutical market, Dr. Dekkers said, "It is difficult to access as India has a significant presence of local pharma companies. Initially, it was a generics market but it is increasingly drug development based. We are relatively small here but we have good products here in oncology and cardio-vascular diseases." The Bayer Group chief welcomed the Indian Patent protection law saying "intellectual property (IP) right is key to protect our right on inventions. India is increasingly aware of this and the world is moving to better IP regulation. We spend around 1-2 billion euro on the development of a product and should have some level of exclusivity for some years." Bayer currently employs around 4,000 people in India with sales of around 500 million euro in 2010.



Stephan Gerlich, Country Group Head, Bayer India, said that by 2015, 50-60 per cent would come from crop science, 10 per cent from healthcare and 30-40 per cent from material science.



Bayer\'s 50:50 marketing and distribution joint venture with Zydus Cadila — Bayer Zydus Pharma — has already brought in about 35 products and the employee count has doubled to 800 and will reach 900 by year-end. "The plan is to launch new products, hire more people and cover more segments," said Mr. Gerlich.



Joerg Rehbein, Country Head, Bayer crop science said the strategy in India was "Innovation and we will bring in 2-3 new products every year and are looking to increase their reach and evaluating several opportunities like seeds, which is a huge growth area in India."


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