WE NEED SHORT-TERM LAUNCHES TO KEEP DRIVING GROWTH”

Dr. Vasant (Vas) Narasimhan, global CEO of the $47.4-billion pharmaceutical major Novartis International AG, is leading the company towards a strategic and cultural transformation powered by advanced therapy platforms and data science. The company has completed strategic transactions worth over $70 billion since he took charge as CEO in 2018. In an exclusive interview with Business Today’s Joe C. Mathew and P.B. Jayakumar, the second generation Indian American speaks about his vision for Novartis, new launches in India and the growing role of its Hyderabad centre. Edited excerpts:

- Joe C. Mathew and P.B. Jayakumar

What is the current focus at Novartis?

Right now, the focus is about 80 per cent innovative medicines and 20 per cent generics. It is a good mix of long-term and short-term. We have 15 launches coming up in innovative medicines. That, I think, is the highest in the industry. We got six new drug approvals last year. We have 165 projects in drug development, which will hopefully be the next wave of innovation at Novartis. It’s the right balance.

Some of this technology will take longer to evolve. Some of them are near-term RNA interference, and to some extent cell therapy and gene therapy. But in the longer term, we will need these technologies to mature. So this will be a 5-10-year journey. We try to balance as we need short-term launches to keep driving the company’s growth.

What are the changes taking place in the company?

We’ve been on a journey to focus as a medicine company powered by data science and digital technologies. I’ve successfully integrated a company that’s 100 per cent focused on medicines. Its footprint is geographically diverse, and is also present across 10 therapeutic areas and different technology platforms. We continue to have traditional platforms, small molecule and large molecule drugs, but also new platforms like cell and gene therapies. We want to transform to the next level of performance using data science and digital technologies.