Gracias Saldanha, a ‘pharma wizard’ and an employee of a multinational, founded a company his two sons, Glenn and Mark, and called it Glenmark Pharmaceuticals in 1977. He introduced many novel products in the country. Today, while he continues to remain chairman, his son Glenn Saldanha, the Managing Director, oversees the entire operations of the organization. In fact, it is Glenn who has taken his father’s ambitions further. He has managed to transform it from an Indian-driven branded generics business into a research-driven innovation led organization that focuses on discovering new molecules. Simultaneously, he has built a strong branded formulations business across emerging economies including India and has also established a strong foothold in the US generics market in a short period.

Today, the company with a turnover of over Rs 2,600 crore is a leading player in the discovery of new molecules both chemical and biological and has eight molecules in various stages of clinical development. Headquartered in a distinctly modernistic glass and steel building in Andheri East, Glenmark employs nearly 6000 people in over 80 countries. It has twelve manufacturing facilities in four countries and five R&D centres. Glenmark was chosen as the “Best Pharma Company in the World – SME” and “Best Company across emerging markets” for 2008 by SCRIP, the largest selling and most respected pharmaceutical magazine in the world. Forbes, another leading international publication, recognized Glenmark as the “Best under a Billion Dollar companies in Asia” for 2008