Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mumbai.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1977 by Gracias Saldanha as a generic drug and active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer. He named the company after his two sons. The company initially sold its products in India, Russia, and Africa. The company went public in India in 1999. Saldanha's son Glenn took over as CEO in 2001,^[3] having returned to India after working at PricewaterhouseCoopers.^[4] In 2008 Glenmark was the fifth-biggest pharmaceutical company in India.^[5]

By 2011 the founder of the company was one of the richest men in India,^[6] and Glenmark had worldwide sales of $778 million, a 37% increase over the last year's sales; the growth was driven by Glenmark's entry into the US and European generics markets.^[7]

In the mid-2010s the generics industry in general began transitioning to the end of an era of giant patent cliffs in the pharmaceutical industry; patented drugs with sales of around $28 billion were set to come off patent in 2018, but in 2019 only about $10 billion in revenue was set to open for competition, and less the next year. Companies in the industry responded with consolidation or trying to generate new, patented drugs.^[8]

Under Glenn Saldanha, the company focused on developing new drugs^[9][8] and biosimilars in the fields of cancer, dermatology and respiratory diseases, which it sought to monetize by partnering with major pharmaceutical companies.^[8][10] In 2016 it had four such drugs in clinical trials.^[11] Its R&D developed a drug to treat asthma and COPD and licensed this to North America and Japan. It also licensed out a new diabetes drug to the German Merck.^[3] For the financial year 2016–2017 its sales were around 81 billion INR (ca. $1.25 billion), making it the fourth-biggest Indian pharmaceutical company.^[12]

In May 2019, Yasir Rawjee became CEO of Glenmark Life Sciences.^[13]

In April 2025, Anurag Mantri succeeded V S Mani as Global CFO.^[14]

Alok Malik currently serves as the Head of India Formulations^[15]

In January 2024, Glenmark and its subsidiary Ichnos Sciences formed Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI) to combine small‑molecule and biologics R&D for oncology, with three molecules already in clinical trials and two holding U.S. FDA orphan drug designations.^[16]

In July 2025, Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals,^[17] entered into a global licensing agreement with US-based biopharmaceutical company AbbVie for the development and commercialization of ISB 2001. ISB 2001 is a first-in-class trispecific antibody developed using IGI's proprietary BEAT platform, currently in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.^[18] Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie secured exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the drug in North America, Europe, Japan, and Greater China, while Glenmark retained rights for India and other emerging markets.^[19] The deal included an upfront payment of $700 million to IGI, with potential milestone payments totaling up to $1.225 billion, alongside tiered double-digit royalties on future net sales.^[20]

In September 2025 licensed Hengrui’s trastuzumab rezetecan (SHR‑A1811), a HER2‑targeted ADC, for selected markets, with milestone‑linked economics disclosed in media reports.^[21][22]

In December 2025, Glenmark Specialty S.A. in‑licensed aumolertinib (third‑generation EGFR‑TKI) from Hansoh Pharma for multi‑regional rights - adding an MHRA/NMPA‑approved lung cancer therapy to its pipeline.^[23]

In 2024, Glenmark completed the divestment of a 75% stake in Glenmark Life Sciences (GLS) to Nirma Limited for approximately ₹5,651 crore. This was part of a strategic move to reduce debt and focus on its core innovative pipeline.^[24]

In August 2025, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals announced the transfer of its consumer care business into a newly incorporated, wholly owned subsidiary named Glenmark Consumer Care Limited.^[25] The restructuring, approved by the company's board, aims to segregate the marketing and trading of pharmaceutical and consumer care products. In the 2024–25 fiscal year, the division reported an annual turnover of ₹514.7 crore, representing approximately one percent of the company's total standalone value.^[26]

In March 2020, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals entered into an agreement to sell its intimate hygiene brand, VWash, to Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Under the terms of the deal, Glenmark transferred the intellectual property, trademarks, and logos of the brand to HUL for an undisclosed amount, while retaining the right to manage the supply chain and manufacturing for a transitional period.^[27]

Glenmark launched its telmisartan brand, Telma, in 2003 for the treatment of hypertension and cardiovascular indications.^[28] By 2024, the Telma brand family, including 16 line extensions, reached an annual turnover of ₹1,036 crore. The brand's market entry and growth strategy were the subject of a 2015 case study by Harvard Business Publishing Education, which examined its competition with the then-market-dominant molecule, Ramipril.^[28]

In 2021, Glenmark was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Emerging Markets category. It was one of 15 Indian companies across all sectors, and one of five within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, to receive the designation that year.^[29]

Glenmark is the second Indian pharmaceutical company to have its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). They have also committed to becoming carbon neutral (Scope 1 and 2) by 2030.^[30]

In October 2019, following an inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Glenmark's plant in Himachal Pradesh, the FDA sent Glenmark a warning letter in which it detailed "significant violations of current good manufacturing practice."^[31][32]

In August 2021, Glenmark recalled every product being produced at its plant near Charlotte, North Carolina.^[31] A subsequent investigation in 2022 by the FDA documented 17 violations of manufacturing standards and resulted in an FDA warning letter for the plant.^[31]

In November 2022, the FDA sent Glenmark a warning letter about its plant in Goa, India, which stated that the plant lacked the procedures necessary to verify that drugs produced by the plant had the strength, quality, and purity claimed by Glenmark.^[31][33]

In September 2024, Glenmark's product Telma-H (telmisartan) was subject to a ‘Not of Standard Quality’ (NSQ) alert by India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).^[34] The company asserted that they had not produced the drug.^[34]

In July 2025, the FDA sent Glenmark another warning letter, following an inspection of the company's plant in Madhya Pradesh in February 2025 that uncovered problems with cleaning and drug testing at the plant.^[35][36] In the letter, the FDA noted that similar problems had been found at three other Glenmark manufacturing sites that had previously been the subject of warning letters, stating that "These repeated failures at multiple sites demonstrate that management oversight and control over the manufacture of drugs is inadequate."^[36]

• Official website