The pharmaceutical arm of multinational Johnson&Johnson (J&J), Janssen India, has been making headlines for its aggressive contribution towards the growth and development of the country’s pharma industry.
Commenting over the exclusive practices of CSR, contribution in sanitary wellness, girl child education and more, Sanjiv Navangul, Managing Director, Janssen India shared some undisclosed facts about the company’s contribution in improving health and wellness of India on the sidelines of Samvaad, an event by MDI, Gurgaon. Edited excerpts:
How is the pharmaceutical industry of India planning and growing strong to remain on the top?
We need to realise that India in a way is the pharmacy of the world because first of all, we have a very strong industry, $15 billion of domestic and export business. India is the third largest in volume and eighth largest in value in the world now and may be every 5th or 4th pill sold in the United States is manufactured in India. So that is the strength of Indian (Pharma) Industry. It is really creating waves. If you really look at the contribution of saving lives for HIV, Indian industry is doing a lot for the world. So, Indian industry is very strong and it should be encouraged. I think the only area for value generation where we still need to progress is on Research and Development, where our own molecules and research should be out and which is one area we need to work on. Otherwise, the Indian pharmaceuticals industry is the second biggest contributor after IT industry in terms of gaining world over.
How is Janssen India and Johnsons&Johnsons planning to equip themselves in Nutraceuticals market?
Firstly, as I always say, because the treatment rate is low, penetration is low. For instance, even the penetration of sanitary napkins in this country is less than 20 per cent still. If that is the case, then the important point to note is the competition that every company has right now is against No Treatment or No Care. So there is no competition between companies per say, there is still a long way for every company to ensure that India becomes a better company in terms of health and citizens of this country gets better health. So obviously, everybody has a lot of space and there is a lot of things to do. There is still no competition between companies to talk about. Many startups are foraying into the market of sanitary products, which is great and more and more should come.
How Johnson&Johnson is encouraging or backing innovative startups?
There is a lot of work happening at the backdrop of every company, encouraging people to do some great things and you must know, Johnson&Johnson (J&J) has globally renowned concept of JLabs where scientists can come and work for their own research and experiments, there is a set infrastructure and it has nominal rent rate. So therefore, J&J is doing a lot of work in the background to encourage people to do a lot of innovation.
How is Janssen India encouraging and educating Indians under CSR initiative?
We’re doing a lot of work as a part of our CSR with a lot of NGOs in a bid to build a strong and better India. We do a lot of work with young children in schools and we took a lot of initiatives in educating adolescent girls in educating about proper sanitary care. So, there is a lot of work that we’re doing of our own, helping the girl child in education with an aim to build a better India.
What kind of CSR initiatives has the company taken?
Girl Child education is a huge thing we’re doing. Basically we’re into education and we’re providing it in diverse ways- we’re encouraging girl child education, we’re into spreading educating of sanitary care, we’re educating healthcare professionals on trying to save women and child mortality, so there is a lot of work we’re doing in all these areas.
