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Getting a front-end manufacturing foothold in the U.S. appears to be the way out for India’s generic drugmakers in the event of U.S. levying tariff on pharmaceuticals, a top executive of a well-known pharma company has said.
“Need to buy a front-end manufacturing [facility] in the U.S. That’s the only way you can go forward,” Natco Pharma’s vice-chairman and CEO Rajeev Nannapaneni said replying to a query around the evolving tariff scenario in the U.S., during an investor call recently.
That appears to be the only solution, he said, adding if the tariffs materialise that would have a bearing on the entire pharma industry of India as a lot of the manufacturing now is concentrated in the country. It would be interesting to have a manufacturing base in the U.S. However, this strategy would be limited to some products as “you can’t do everything, because it doesn’t work out,” he said.
The questions came in the backdrop of the U.S. President Donald Trump announcing that tariff of 25% are on the cards on a number of imports, including pharmaceuticals, and the rate of the levy would progressively increase. According to sources, U.S. follows a zero tariff regime on pharmaceuticals from India currently.
Mr. Nannapaneni said Natco Pharma is considering an acquisition in the prescription pharmaceutical segment each in the Rest of World (RoW) region and in the U.S., both with the aim to strengthen the portfolio. As of now December 31, 2024, the net cash available with the generic pharma company was about ₹3,000 crore.
For the third quarter ended December, the company had reported a consolidated net profit of ₹132.4 crore as against ₹212.7 crore a year earlier and total revenue of ₹651.1 crore (₹795.6 crore).
Published – February 20, 2025 09:25 pm IST
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Front-end manufacturing in U.S. way forward to counter tariff impact on pharma: Natco Pharma CEO
