Mr. Glenn Saldanha Honoured With 'Swiss Ambassador's Award for Exceptional Innovation'

MUMBAI, November 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Mr. Glenn Saldanha Becomes the Third Recipient of This Prestigious Award After Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group in 2011 and Mr. Yash Chopra in 2010

Swiss Ambassador Dr. Linus von Castelmur honoured Mr. Glenn Saldanha, Chairman & Managing Director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited with 'Swiss Ambassador's Award for Exceptional Innovation' for his outstanding innovation-driven leadership on November 29, 2012 at an event organised at the Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi.

Acknowledging Mr. Glenn Saldanha's contributions in the area of innovation Ambassador Dr. Linus von Castelmur said, "Innovation has become the new driving force of Indo-Swiss Partnership and Glenmark is a very good case in point. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was the first Indian life science enterprise to establish a research and development facility outside India in 2006. Glenmark's 3,000 sq. m. state of the art laboratory in La Chaux-de-Fonds employs 60 highly qualified scientists."

In his acceptance speech Mr. Glenn Saldanha said, "I am deeply honored to receive the Swiss Ambassador's Award for exceptional innovation. This award is even more meaningful because it's being presented by a country which is one of the leading innovation research destinations for the pharmaceutical industry, offering the best combination of infrastructure and talent for new drug discovery research. This has been demonstrated by the success achieved by Glenmark in Switzerland."

Mr. Saldanha added, "Glenmark's novel Biologics Research Centre at Neuchatel, Switzerland has been doing some cutting-edge research work in the area of novel biologics which resulted in our company signing a landmark agreement with Sanofi of France. This was the first outlicencing deal executed by an Indian company and the largest deal across emerging markets in the area of novel biologics. Innovation leading to new drugs is critical to meeting the global unmet medical need and recognitions like these inspire us to continue our work in the area of innovation or drug discovery research."

Earlier in his laudatory speech Mr. Ranjit Shahani, President of Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India expressed that it has been Mr. Saldanha's endeavour to serve people with low-cost medication. He has personally focused his energies on research in therapeutic areas such as pain, inflammation and oncology. He remarked that Glenmark is one of the few Indian companies to have developed and licensed out six molecules to what is popularly known as Big Pharma.

Swiss Ambassador's Award recognises individuals who have contributed to the promotion of Indo-Swiss bilateral relations or have stood out for their exceptional role in the society and industry. Swiss Ambassador's Award 2011 for exceptional leadership was conferred on Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group and the award for the year 2010 was presented to Mr. Yash Chopra for his remarkable contribution to Indo-Swiss people to people relations through his movies.

About Glenmark:

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (GPL) is a research-driven, global, integrated pharmaceutical company headquartered at Mumbai, India. It is ranked among the top 100 pharma & biotech companies of the world in terms of revenues. (SCRIP 100 Rankings published in the year 2012) Glenmark is a leading player in the discovery of new molecules both NCEs (new chemical entity) and NBEs (new biological entity). Glenmark has several molecules in various stages of clinical development and is primarily focused in the areas of inflammation [asthma/COPD, rheumatoid arthritis etc.] and Pain [neuropathic pain and inflammatory pain]. The company has a significant presence in branded generics markets across emerging economies including India. GPL along with its subsidiary has 13 manufacturing facilities in four countries and has five R&D centers. Its subsidiary, Glenmark Generics Limited services the requirements of the US and Western Europe generics markets. The API business sells its products in over 80 countries, including the US, various countries in the EU, South America and India.

Primary Media Contact: Corporate Communications, corpcomm@glenmarkpharma.com, 91-22-40189999