Indian family drug firm turns world-beater

IF the stock market is any guide, Sharvil Patel has just inherited one of the top generic drug manufacturers in the world. Now, he just has to figure out how to keep it that way. Even as the copycat drug business reeled from increased regulatory scrutiny, withering competition in the United States, or some combination of the two, his family's Cadila Healthcare Ltd seemed to have things worked out.

Under Mr Patel's father, Pankaj, the Indian drugmaker had a major plant cleared of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sanctions - a feat that many of its compatriots have struggled to pull off - clearing the way for its US product pipeline to finally start flowing. In the first half of 2017, Cadila's stock delivered returns of almost 50 per cent, making it the best among generic drugmakers worldwide with a market value of more than US$1 billion.

Cadila has given up a chunk of those gains in recent days as quarterly results from across the industry show US price pressures have only increased. But the Patels say their new products can over time offset that deterioration because many of them will face less competition, either because of exclusivity agreements or the complexity of making them. And besides, with three generations in the generic drug business, they've seen hard times before.