Read the Conversation
Conversation highlights:
- Hetero’s Growth in Mexico: Hetero has evolved significantly since entering the market in 2015 and is now advancing toward a 10-year consolidation plan focused on risk mitigation and long-term sustainability.
- Mexico Life Sciences Market Shift – 10 Years Overview: The past decade has seen notable changes in Mexico’s life sciences market. The government sector has expanded, the procurement system has modernized, and a wave of patent expirations has created new commercial opportunities.
- Business Division Development – Six Vertical Structures & More to Come: The company began with an API marketing operation and a B2B formulation model, then expanded into B2C generics through distributors and chain pharmacy partnerships. It later added government, hospital injectables, and biosimilars divisions, and most recently entered the access (Rx) market to build sustainable brands in oncology, hematology, cardiology, metabolic diseases, and future therapies.
- Long-term strategy – investing in local manufacturing: Hetero is developing a multi-phase local facility. Phase one, focused on solid oral dosage forms, is scheduled for commissioning in Q1–Q2 2026. Phase two will specialize in oncology, and phase three will focus on biosimilars. The project aligns with Mexico’s industrial policy and healthcare priorities, supports President Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, and reflects Hetero’s long-term commitment to local, technology-driven manufacturing to strengthen the healthcare system and reduce import dependence, and improve affordable access to critical medicines for all Mexicans.
- Competitive Advantages Through Integration: Complete vertical integration enables agility, cost leadership, supply reliability, and supports scalable growth in a competitive market.
EF: What key changes have shaped Mexico’s life sciences ecosystem in the past decade?
GK: The life sciences market has undergone significant growth, particularly in the government sector. Pre‑pandemic, the government began opening procurement to international companies, which had previously been restricted to local manufacturers. This shift was motivated by the desire to access higher‑quality products at more competitive prices. It opened many opportunities, brought several Indian and international companies into the market, and reduced government procurement costs. As a result, healthcare budgets were more efficiently utilized, enabling the acquisition of additional products. Prices for many items, especially those whose patents had expired, fell to less than half, allowing the government to maximize its purchasing power. Our company actively adapted to take advantage of these new opportunities.
The second challenge that came with this opportunity was the lack of a long‑term and stable organization to manage government procurement. First, it was UNOPS, then INSABI, and now BIRMEX, each operating with different criteria. In the past year, they have launched many market investigations for procuring medicines, while many parallel contracts are still active, creating confusion, delays, or problems in supply. This has affected both local and international companies. The absence of a stable purchasing plan for 12 or 24 months disrupts the supply chain and does not help manufacturers when the government issues many small supplementary contracts.
Ideally, purchases would be planned with sufficient lead time over a 12‑ or 24‑month period. The industry would be ready to support this if we had enough time to procure or manufacture APIs. Traditionally, it takes about 90 days to procure APIs, followed by around 30 days for manufacturing, packing, and QC, plus 10 to 15 days for importing products into Mexico for international suppliers. Once this cycle is aligned with clear advance forecasts—such as a one‑year monthly or quarterly forecast—we would not have supply issues, and fill rates could significantly improve. A predictable purchase pattern would positively impact the total supply chain and help bring fill rates close to 100%.
The third major change has been positive for the market. In the past few years, many key medicines have lost patent protection, particularly those used to treat metabolic diseases such as diabetes, as well as several cardio, oncology, and hematology treatments. As a result, we now have access to both the private and government tender markets. This has been very beneficial for the generic industry and for us. We have gained strong market shares in these segments and are undoubtedly market leaders in some of them.
We are one of the leading fully integrated companies, with approvals and accreditations from regulatory authorities across the world, including USFDA, EMA, MHRA, and COFEPRIS. We produce around 80% of our materials in‑house, from intermediates and APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) to finished products. For API manufacturing, we are almost entirely self‑reliant, sourcing only a very few key materials externally. This high level of integration, combined with the large scale of our production facilities—more than 36 plants across the globe—gives us a significant cost advantage and positions us as a leader in both efficiency and capacity. We are surely among the very few companies in the world to have this combination of scale, cost, and agility.
EF: Can you describe your current footprint in Mexico, including your infrastructure, team, and product portfolio?
GK: The company entered Mexico with an API presence. Until around 2014–2015, we were not yet a major player in either APIs or finished formulations. When I joined in 2015, together with corporate leadership, we rethought our strategy and pushed to invest in product development and expand our portfolio across all therapy segments to fast-track our organic growth in this market.
With more than one hundred million people, Mexico is one of the largest markets globally, and the opportunity was clear. We knew a strong presence, including local manufacturing, was essential, and today that is becoming a reality. A decade ago, we focused only on APIs and business-to-business finished formulations, with around fifteen to twenty employees. Today, we are more than 300. We have invested heavily in product development, submitted a large number of dossiers, and now have more than one hundred product registrations across therapies, with a similar number under registration and a strong pipeline. This makes us one of the leading Indian companies in Mexico in terms of registrations and revenue.
We began with two business verticals and now operate six. After the business-to-business model, we expanded into business-to-consumer, establishing divisions in oncology, hematology, cardiology, and metabolic diseases, and building our own brands as part of a long-term, sustainable strategy. Around five years ago, we added another consumer-focused business in generics, distributing nationwide through wholesalers and pharmacies. We also integrated a pharmacy chain supply division and now supply nearly all national and regional pharmacy chains in Mexico. Securing approval for biosimilars was one of our most challenging phases. I personally spent a lot of time to ensure we obtained approval for our first biosimilar product, followed by a second, and we are currently working on extending our biosimilar portfolio to ten products.
Pre-COVID, we launched the institutional and government division, which quickly became our largest. During the INSABI period, we ranked among the top 10 suppliers to the government by units sold. The segment is highly competitive due to price fluctuations. Even with vertical integration, competition remains challenging, but with our strong pipeline in cardiometabolic, oncology, and injectables, we are confident we can maintain our position. We later added an injectables division focused on private hospitals and built strong field forces covering cardiometabolic, oncology, hematology, and hospital care. To support this expansion, we strengthened backend functions, including accounts and finance, supply chain, distribution, regulatory, and quality control. With this stable base, we are looking forward to launching a couple of niche therapy segments in the coming years.
Since my integration into Hetero Mexico, the growth has been significant and exponential. This success gives us the confidence to continue investing in Mexico, particularly under the new “Made in Mexico” strategy. Although incentives for foreign investors would be helpful and attract more investment, we remain committed. Our local manufacturing plant is under construction. By January–February 2026, we expect the solid oral plant to be completed and will begin the licensing and regulatory process. In the national interest, approvals should move faster; government authorities should introduce a single-window system for overseas investments to enable faster regulatory approvals.
We have ambitious plans for local production. This investment aligns with Mexico’s national industrial policy and healthcare priorities, supports the administration led by President Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, and reflects our long-term commitment to Mexico’s healthcare system and industrial development. By building local manufacturing capabilities for essential medicines—and soon, complex biosimilars—we are not only supporting national health priorities but also contributing to economic resilience and technological leadership.
Our partnership can bring strong value to the government by ensuring a consistent supply and availability. The first phase covers general solid oral products. The second phase, already under construction, focuses on oncology. The third phase will focus on biosimilars, which are more complex in terms of tech transfers and investments and therefore planned last. We have already launched two biosimilars in Mexico—Rituximab and Bevacizumab—and were the first Indian company to offer Rituximab in the country. Eight additional biosimilars are currently being prepared for registration. This segment is expected to grow substantially in the coming years, and we are investing heavily to be ready for the future.
