One of the biggest names in the pharma sector in both India and the US is that of an Indian woman.
A person should not be defined only based on gender i.e. male or female. Criteria of knowledge and competence are essential.
Whatever the field, participation is mandatory for both men and women. There should not be a feeling of making one person look big and the other small.
Women's participation is also necessary for the progress of the country. Women are progressing in the field of business. This is important for the economic development of the country.
A second-generation leader of pharma company Lupin Limited, founded by late business tycoon Desh Bandhu Gupta in 1968, his daughter Vineeta Gupta is the CEO.
The credit for taking the business to an international and new level goes to Vinita Gupta.
Lupin Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company based in Mumbai. It is one of the largest generic pharmaceutical companies by revenue globally.
Vineeta Gupta is one of the few women who is a top name among the pharma giants. She has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lupin Limited since 2013.
She is the chairperson of Lupin Incorporated (LI) and its US subsidiary Lupin Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (LPI). Since 2007, she has been a board director of Lupin's Japanese subsidiary Kyowa Pharmaceuticals.
Lupin is one of the fourth largest pharmaceutical companies in America. And is the third-largest pharmaceutical company by global revenue.
Let us know, Vinita Gupta's journey to take the pharma company to the top…
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Early Life
Vineeta Gupta is the daughter of entrepreneurs Desh Bandhu Gupta and Manju Gupta.
She received her bachelor's degree in Pharmacy from Mumbai University. She obtained an MBA degree from Kellogg School of Management, USA.
Even before joining her father's Lupin Limited Pharma company, Vinita Gupta's aim was to take the company to the American market.
She used her internship with Abbott as a vehicle to bring Lupin into developed markets.
While studying in America, she studied the market there. Her father advised her to prepare a blueprint for the American market. Which she did well.
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Livelihood
Vinita Gupta joined Lupin in 1993. For the first three years of joining the company, she focused her entire attention on understanding the company's regulatory requirements, IP, and patent landscape.
She traveled extensively to countries like Mexico, Argentina, and America to better build capacity in her strategies. She also made efforts to engage experts from outside to assess and enhance the capabilities of the team.
She created the first business plan for anti-infectious cephalosporins, used in the treatment of TB, with a $10 billion investment in the US, Europe, and Japan. But things did not go as planned and she lost two years.
They then decided to exit the joint venture. She built her facility in Mandideep, India, using the $5 million she had invested in a joint venture in Puerto Rico.
In 2001, Lupin became the only Asian pharma company to receive approval from the US FDA for the manufacturing of cephalosporins in Mandideep.
Watson was close to signing a deal with pharmaceuticals for two of its products (cefuroxime axetil and suprax). However, the Wyeth company, which was marketing Suprax until March 2003, decided to stop promoting it.
This was a big blow for Lupin company but it is said that where there is a will there is a way. Vinita Gupta aimed to launch Lupin as a brand.
Her decision was supported by her father. Which gave her a lot of strength. At that time there were only three people including her in the American office.
They partnered with a contract sales organization to create a virtual infrastructure. They launched Suprax with a campaign called It's Bank. At the end of the first year of launch, they found Suprax to be one of the best medicines for urinary tract infection (UTI). Due to this both her medicine and revenue increased.
In 2003, she became the president of the company and since 2013, she has been serving as CEO.
She along with her brother Nilesh Gupta acquired organic growth and partnerships with companies such as Europe's Merck and America's Fujisawa.
Their first international acquisition was that of Kyowa Pharmaceuticals, Japan in the year 2007.
They then made acquisitions in Germany, Australia, South Africa, the Philippines, Mexico, Russia, and the US. The objective of this was to specialize in complex generic and specialty products and build brands.
Two decades later, she is one of the most influential women in American pharma.
She grew the US business from 5% to 45% of Lupin's total business. Today America is Lupin's biggest market.
Vinita Gupta is taking charge of Lupin along with her brother Nilesh Gupta, who is the Managing Director (MD) of the company.
Lupin's estimated annual cost savings to the American health system is $15 billion. The company acquired Gavis Pharma, based in Somerset, New Jersey, in March 2016 for $880 million. Which is the largest foreign acquisition made by an Indian company.
The company invested more than $1 billion in the US market in 2016. Her US-based company employs approximately 674 employees.
Vinita Gupta was appointed Non-Executive Director of Intrexon in April 2017.
Vinita Gupta also played an important role in bringing private equity investors into the company. In 1994, Lupin's non-core diversification into real estate came at a heavy cost and the company fell into debt.
In the year 2002, the company was in debt of Rs 6.30 billion. Finally, in the year 2004, she got a suitable partnership with CVC Worldwide, a London headquartered private equity firm. The company invested Rs 1.25 billion to acquire a 12.55% stake in Lupine. Which helped in reducing the debt of the company.
She has played an important role in shaping and implementing the company's growth strategy. Lupin is a big name in the pharmaceutical sector globally.
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Personal Life
Vinita Gupta married entrepreneur and investor Brij Sharma. They have a son named Krish Sharma. She lives with her family in Florida, USA.
She gives credit for her success to her father and husband.
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Respect
- Vinita Gupta and her brother Nilesh Gupta were jointly named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2015.
- She won the Entrepreneur of the Year Forbes India Leadership Award 2016.
- She is the winner of the inaugural EY, US 2012 Family Business Award of Excellence.
- She was honored with the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Award for Healthcare Services and Technology in Maryland.
- Vinita Gupta was named among the Top 50 Power Business Women of Asia Pacific by Forbes Asia in 2014.
- She was featured in Hall of Fame, Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs 2016, Business Today.
- She was nominated for the Outstanding Business Woman Leader of the Year at the 11th CNBC India Business Leader Awards.
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