Mankind Pharma’s Rajeev Juneja plots path to No.1 spot, says BSV deal validates bold bets as debt falls

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Mankind Pharma's ambition to become India's No. 1 domestic drugmaker is no longer a distant dream, Vice Chairman and Managing Director Rajeev Juneja said in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, adding that the company's improving balance sheet, rising cash generation and successful integration of the Rs 14,000-crore Bharat Serums and Vaccines (BSV) acquisition have put it on a stronger footing to chase the top spot.

After reducing net debt to Rs 2,639 crore and guiding for acquisition debt repayment by FY28, Mankind is now preparing to deploy capital towards innovation, chronic therapies and selective acquisitions, while building a more decentralised organisation led by specialised business heads.

"If 28 years back you had met me and asked this question, I would have said I want to become the number one company. You would have laughed because we were a small company from Meerut," he said.

"Nobody believed we could become an all-India company. Then people said we couldn't do chronic. Then they said we couldn't do science. But this is a manifestation, and it is what keeps us working every day."

Mankind Pharma has a 5.4 percent market share in the domestic branded formulation market, for the year ended October as per the PharmTrac data.

The company's financial strength has improved markedly following the integration of BSV.

The company reported revenue of Rs 14,278 crore in FY26. In the first half of FY27, revenue grew 17.3 percent year-on-year, while Q2 FY27 revenue rose to Rs 4,338 crore. Profitability has outpaced sales growth, with Q2 EBITDA increasing 27.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,175 crore, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 27.1 percent, while net profit surged 37.7 percent to Rs 716 crore.

However, to reach the top spot in the highly competitive Indian pharmaceutical market, Mankind will have to topple well-entrenched incumbents like Sun Pharma, Abbott and Cipla, and also will have to be on its toes, as the difference between other contenders like Torrent Pharma, Lupin, Alkem, Zydus, Intas and Dr Reddy's is below two percent in terms of market share.

"Right now if we want to become number one company of India, then we will have to really add science in it. We will have to add some kind of barrier to entry."

That's where he said he took the calculated gamble of acquiring BSV.

BSV acquisition changed Mankind's trajectory

The confidence stems partly from the successful integration of BSV, the nearly Rs 14,000-crore acquisition that many investors initially viewed with skepticism. Today, Juneja believes the deal has not only delivered growth but has fundamentally transformed Mankind's capabilities.

"People had not really understood Mankind. If I say one word about Mankind, it's dynamism. We are always very dynamic, always forward-looking," he said.

According to Juneja, BSV's greatest value lies beyond its revenue and profitability. The acquisition introduced Mankind to the world of biologics, scientific research and innovation-led healthcare, areas that would have taken years to build organically.

"BSV is all about science. Mankind is brand, marketing, accessibility and reach. It's an amazing combination. Science meeting marketing and sales," he said.

He added that BSV's scientific ecosystem eventually led Mankind to acquire a majority stake in Belgium-based Armed Cell Therapeutics, a company developing next-generation CAR-T cancer therapies.

The operational turnaround is already becoming visible. Following management changes and greater commercial focus, BSV's domestic business has been delivering 17-20 percent growth quarter after quarter, according to Juneja.

Debt reduction boosts confidence for future acquisition bets

As earnings improve and cash generation accelerates, Juneja says Mankind has become more comfortable evaluating future opportunities while remaining financially conservative. Net debt has fallen to around Rs 2,639 crore, bringing leverage down sharply from post-acquisition levels.

"Our strategy is very simple. Cash will go into R&D, infrastructure and opportunities in chronic therapies and consumer healthcare. M&A will definitely be there, but very, very clear. Consumer, chronic and R&D. That's all," he said.

Still, Juneja was quick to stress that the BSV experience reinforced the importance of caution.

"We are very conservative people. Capital allocation is very, very important. One should not become overambitious. In acquisitions, you should always be pragmatic," he said. "We thought we would turn around BSV in nine months. We could not do that. Now we know why and next time we will take those precautions."

Building a company of specialised businesses

A key part of Mankind's next phase is organisational. Rather than running a single monolithic pharmaceutical company, Juneja envisions a structure where multiple businesses operate independently under the larger Mankind umbrella.

"At one given time Mankind will run like a big conglomerate. Under one roof will be culture and values, but every entity will have a different strategy," he said.

Juneja said businesses focused on research, mass-market brands, specialty therapies and consumer healthcare require very different operating models and leadership styles.

"In future there will be different heads with all the powers. They will run their own entities. What will combine them is the culture, finance and HR systems. As far as strategy is concerned, they will all be different," he said.

The approach reflects Mankind's growing scale as it expands beyond acute therapies into chronic diseases, specialty medicines, biologics and consumer health products.

Innovation to become key growth engine

Juneja also made clear that innovation will play a much bigger role in shaping Mankind's future than it has historically.

"If we want to become the number one pharma company in India, we will have to add science. We will have to add barriers to entry," he said.

The company has already invested in novel drug research, including a JAK inhibitor and an anti-diabetic obesity asset, while its investment in Belgium-based Armed Cell Therapeutics gives it exposure to cutting-edge cancer research.

Juneja remains realistic about the risks involved in research but believes even one successful breakthrough could redefine the company.

"Sometimes one molecule can completely change the look, feel and size of an organisation," he said.

Challenges ahead

Today, Mankind is India's fourth-largest pharmaceutical company by value, it has built its franchise by reaching nearly six lakh doctors and dominating general practitioner prescriptions. The company aims to increase chronic therapies' contribution to sales to 50 percent over the next few years and eventually to 60 percent by 2035, while maintaining its leadership in acute therapies and expanding in specialty segments.

But challenges remain. Mankind is largely an acute therapies-heavy company, with a focus on general practitioners rather than specialist doctors. Mankind marketing representatives meet doctors with sometimes with over 30 products, often promoting both acute and chronic, while doctors' attention spans are reducing. The field force of Mankind is also tilted towards tier-2 and below markets.

Juneja acknowledged that historically Mankind Pharma's strength came from general practitioners (GPs), but future growth will require deeper engagement with specialists.

"In future, our growth will come much more from specialists than from GPs. We have to increase our specialist coverage substantially."

He explained that GPs have traditionally driven the company's acute-care portfolio, while chronic therapies such as cardiology, diabetes and other specialties require a different commercial model. According to Juneja, the company is therefore expanding its specialist-focused field force and reorganising teams around therapy areas rather than relying predominantly on GP coverage. It undertook a major exercise to realign its field force, which caused some pain, but with the dust settling, Juneja expects sales to be much better next year.

Not all parts of the business are firing equally though.

Mankind's consumer healthcare division known for brands like Prega News (pregnancy testing kits), Manforce Condoms, Gas-O-Fast, Health OK (multivitamin), among others, has lagged the core pharmaceutical business, affected by a subdued demand environment and category-specific challenges.

Juneja, however, remained confident of a recovery, arguing that the company's brands continue to enjoy strong consumer recall and distribution reach.

"Consumer business is going through a tough phase, not only for us but for the entire industry," he said, adding that Mankind remains committed to the segment and sees it as an important pillar of future growth. The company is focusing on strengthening execution, expanding distribution and investing behind key brands rather than chasing short-term growth.