France’s Servier eyes €500 mn global sales from India drug tie-ups

The mid-sized pharmaceutical company said it aims to combine India’s expertise in chemical formulations and ‘incremental innovation’ with discovery prowess that will accelerate drug development and manufacturing for global markets.

While Servier, France’s second-largest drugmaker, manufactures locally in partnership with contract manufacturers for the Indian market, the company is investing €15 million to set up a platform called Gatinn to develop single-pill combinations for cardiometabolic and venous diseases in partnership with select contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), the company’s global leadership announced at the launch of the platform on Tuesday. The first product is expected to be launched in October 2027, and the drugmaker predicts global sales of €500 million by 2030.

Servier plans to export single-pill combinations, or drugs that combine two or more active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in a single pill, to countries in regions such as Latin America, Asia and Africa, where the burden of cardiometabolic diseases is high.

“There are two dimensions in the context of single pill combinations or incremental innovations. There is the molecule itself and how you put the molecules together. And here it is interesting to follow India’s success not in terms of the molecule but in terms of India’s ability to find innovative solutions to put molecules together perhaps better than other parts of the world,” said Bradley Lloyd, Managing Director, Servier APAC. he said. Mint in an interview.

“We see India as having a real technological advantage in the ability to find innovative ways to put molecules together or develop formulations to achieve single pill combinations or new ways to deliver the active ingredient,” Lloyd said.

Servier’s platform is expected to have approximately five products in development by the end of 2026, with approximately one new combination added each year through 2030. While development and manufacturing will take place locally, APIs will be imported from Servier’s manufacturing facilities.

“India was a market for Servier, now India is becoming a hub for Servier,” said Aurelien Breton, managing director of Servier India.

The idea behind developing single-pill combinations for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases was that adherence to multiple pills was a big problem, Breton said. These are also chronic conditions that are increasing in prevalence worldwide. “This is more about the mass market or the world’s largest population pools with chronic conditions, so it makes sense to build on SPCs,” he said.

Servier is France’s second largest pharmaceutical company. Sanofi ranks 35th in the global rankings. It generated revenues of €6.9 billion in the 2024-25 financial year.

Cost was a key factor in Servier’s decision to choose India for the Gatinn project. There were multiple elements they considered, including quality and speed, but Lloyd said unlike Europe, “cost was definitely an element where India had an advantage.”

The company, which has a strong presence in cardiology and vascular diseases, is expanding its oncology portfolio in India. Executives also said they are considering conducting oncology clinical trials in India.

“I think this reflects the fact that India is maturing as a market, but it’s also maturing as a pharmacology or pharmaceutical ecosystem,” Lloyd said.