Citing synergy with life science and retail, RIL to enter pharma

Close on heels of its retail foray, Reliance Industries Ltd has decided to enter the pharmaceuticals business. Although details such as investment markup are yet to be formalised

Close on heels of its retail foray, Reliance Industries Ltd has decided to enter the pharmaceuticals business. Although details such as investment markup are yet to be formalised, Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said that this would sit in well with RIL’s overall business model.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Ambani said: “From a strategic perspective, the pharma opportunity finds synergies with both the Reliance Life Sciences and Reliance Retail initiatives”.

At present, the Life Sciences initiative is limited to biopharmaceuticals (therapeutic proteins), molecular diagnostics and genetics, cell-based therapies,

plant tissue culture, clinical research services and contract manufacturing. One piece that was missing from the puzzle though was small molecules or API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) drugs.

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CEO of Reliance Life Sciences K V Subramaniam said the new business could be in place in a year’s time. “The pharmaceuticals vertical can either be a part of Life Sciences or be a standalone venture.

As conceived now, it will be an organic growth model, with inorganic forays when the opportunity comes by. Life Sciences is already involved intensively in work related to synthetic chemistry — phyto chemistry, medicinal chemistry and analytical chemistry — which has the potential to form the nucleus for the pharmaceutical venture,” he said. And this fits in with one facet of RIL’s retail plans — pharmacy chains. While own small-molecule manufacturing facilities could meet the need for branded generics in such pharmacy chains, it would also open for RIL a window into the robust global pharmaceuticals market.