MSD Pharmaceuticals, the wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based multinational drug company Merck, has chartered an ambitious growth plan to emerge as one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in India.
"Our focus will be exclusively on patented products that will be made available for India and will continuously invest in the coming years. These will be need-based investments in manufacturing, research and development centre and other infrastructure," said Naveen A Rao, managing director, MSD India.
He said Merck has identified India, along with China and Korea, as a major growth centre for the company in the future.
So far, the company has launched speciality drugs for critical care, metabolic disorders and vaccines.
The company intends to launch a product from the parent stable every six months and these will include drugs for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and novel vaccines, Rao said.
The Merck subsidiary has plans to step up its research and clinical trial programmes in India, mainly in association with hospitals and universities.
Merck had in the recent past signed a few major drug research programmes with Indian companies such as