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NAME:
MALVINDER MOHAN SINGH
AGE: 34
DESIGNATION: Managing
Director
COMPANY: Ranbaxy Laboratories |
Malvinder Singh's global
ambitions (he made eight global acquisitions last year) now make
him the only Indian suitor left in the fray for Merck's generics
business. But he's not desperate for his prize. Singh, who made
a non-binding bid for the $6-billion (Rs 26,400-crore) division
(it's double of Ranbaxy's market value), has said: "We are
not in a rat race for acquisitions. We are focussed on creating
value for our shareholders in the best way we can." But this
is not the only global fight he has on his hands. With nine "first-to-file"
products under litigation in the us, the company's age-old spat
with Pfizer has reached a higher level; the latter has filed patent-related
litigation against Ranbaxy to stall the launch of its low-cost generic
form of best-selling blood pressure medicine Caduet. An unfazed
Singh has decided to fight back and challenge Pfizer's petition.
He believes that "when non-infringing products are developed,
such efforts must be rewarded". Needless to say, the litigations
have delayed his plans of launching generic versions of several
blockbuster drugs in the US over the next five-six years.
The 34-year-old CEO, who was "surprised" by the us
Food and Drug Administration's raids on his company's New Jersey
facilities in February this year, meanwhile, is involved in another
litigation in the us; this time, a consumer group, the Boston-based
Prescription Action Litigation, is suing Ranbaxy for allegedly
delaying the us launch of Modafinil, the generic version of Cephalon's
sleep disorder drug Provigil. The western media, typically, has
branded him a copycat. The Guardian called his flagship the Indian
specialist in "copycat drugs", but Singh, who enjoys
huge goodwill in his home market and elsewhere, can afford to
brush this off. His series of acquisitions in the European market
last year seem to be paying off. The company's subsidiary in Romania,
Terapia Ranbaxy (which he acquired last year), has a market share
of 5.6 per cent and has recently received Market Authorisations
(MAS) for 20 new products. His rivals may not like it, but he's
winning-fair and square; and for Singh, and his country of origin,
that's what matters.
-Pallavi Srivastava
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