Read the Conversation
Meeting highlights:
- Organon’s Mission: The company is focused on improving women’s health in India, with a clear goal to create a better and healthier every day for every woman through accessible and innovative solutions.
- Product Offering: Includes fertility treatments, contraceptives (pills and implants), menopause, and post-partum hemorrhage management. The company is expanding access to contraceptive products while continuing to grow its established brand portfolio in dermatology and respiratory care.
- Commitment to Distribution and Access: Addressing India’s diverse healthcare landscape through partnerships and digital go-to-market models to increase reach and impact.
- Investment in Technology: Organon places significant investments in healthcare professional education and ongoing training, as well as support digital initiatives through our global grants.
- Walking the Talk: Beyond advocating for equitable access to healthcare, Organon champions an inclusive work environment and ensures gender inclusiveness and pay equity, thus leading by example.
- India’s Potential: The country has the potential to become a pharmaceutical powerhouse through digital leadership, skilled talent, clinical research, manufacturing, and exports, achievable through collaboration with Indian and global stakeholders.
EF: What mission have you set for yourself as Organon India’s new Country Lead, and what are your key responsibilities and priorities for the coming year?
VS: I joined Organon in 2006 and witnessed the incredible evolution of this company. From its early days to the merger with MSD and its re-emergence as an independent entity three and a half years ago, Organon has remained dedicated to women’s health. What has always stood out is its recognition of unmet needs in the market and the trust it has built within this space.
India is at a pivotal moment in women’s healthcare, with many revolutionary changes underway. Being part of Organon during this exciting time, as the company strengthens its legacy with a renewed focus on women’s health, is a unique opportunity.
Organon’s vision goes beyond providing products for women’s health—it also includes solutions for conditions that not only uniquely but also disproportionately affect women. This aligns perfectly with our simple yet powerful mission: to make every day healthier and happier for women. It inspires us to explore new initiatives, innovative medicines, and tailored solutions. Our focus is on bringing innovation to the Indian market—not just through traditional face-to-face engagement with healthcare professionals but also through modern, flexible go-to-market models. It’s an exciting journey, and I’m proud to be part of it.
EF: What role does India play in Organon’s strategy, and where do you see the greatest opportunities to invest in women’s health in the country?
VS: At Organon India, our focus remains on continuous innovation, expanding our portfolio, and introducing new products and solutions. Our strategy is centered around key pillars, with women’s healthcare as the primary focus.
Our first strategic pillar is fortifying our existing portfolio, which currently comprises contraception, fertility, and menopause with an innovative medical device like JADA for managing postpartum hemorrhage. India is one of the first countries in Asia to receive approval to launch this device, and we are working to make it available in hospitals and increase access.
Improving access is another key pillar. India’s vast geography—spanning urban, rural, hard-to-reach areas and unique social and cultural contexts presents challenges. To address these, we’re leveraging digital tools and forming partnerships with governments and NGOs that share our values. These collaborations help extend the reach of our contraceptive and other products to underserved populations.
We’re also investing in technology to improve internal efficiency—optimizing operations like our supply chain and enhancing our sales team’s reach—and external engagement through digital platforms for educating healthcare professionals (HCPs) and consumers. Recognizing the importance of digital platforms, our global ESG grant, “HER Plan is Her Power’ is also supporting the development of innovative tools, such as a sexual and reproductive health chatbot and a training platform for midwives, in collaboration with organizations like UNFPA. One of our major digital initiatives is Organon Pro, which was launched earlier this year. This platform offers HCPs self-paced learning and the latest information on our contraception portfolio, particularly long-acting reversible contraception. We’re working closely with the HCPs and partners to scale this initiative further.
EF: Could you elaborate on your access strategy and how you are building public-private partnerships to ensure innovation reaches people across India?
VS: Though we are a relatively young company, just three and a half years old, we’ve made significant strides thanks to our incredible team. We’ve built successful partnerships and initiatives, which are continuously scaling up and reaching more people. Many new initiatives are set to be launched in 2025 and are expected to yield results soon.
Tea Gardens initiative, in collaboration with the development sector in India, is one such initiative. India is the second-largest tea producer in the world, and most of India’s tea gardens are in Assam and West Bengal. The women working in tea gardens face a high maternal mortality rate and poor health outcomes owing to several community-specific social determinants. These challenges include labor-intensive lifestyles, early marriage, early pregnancies, high rates of anemia, and short intervals between childbirths. These issues impact maternal health and the health of their children. Unintended pregnancies in these areas are also much higher than the national average, making it a critical area for intervention. To address this, we partnered with USAID and Jhpiego to ensure access to a wider basket of choices suitable for women from different age groups, health needs, and preferences. This initiative has been highly successful and caught the attention of the Indian government, which incorporated single-rod implants into the National Family Planning Program as part of its FP2030 goals. This aligns with the government’s efforts to expand the contraceptive basket of choices and improve access for women across the country. We believe implants will make a suitable option for young women who are yet to be mothers, for birth spacing and also limiting the size of the family.
Beyond this project, we are supporting the government’s efforts to avert unintended pregnancies, which account for nearly half of the 48 million pregnancies in India each year. By partnering with the public sector, we aim to improve access to contraceptive solutions for women. We also work with organizations like WHO, UNFPA, PSS, IPAS, and other non-profit and social marketing groups to reach women in underserved regions. Over the past year, these collaborations have gained momentum, increasing awareness and adoption of contraceptive solutions across India.
EF: How has awareness of women's health needs in India evolved in recent years?
VS: Let's break this down into terms of knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Women in India are more educated, aware, financially independent, and have greater access to information. We see a clear change in health-seeking behavior. We see more couples aware and well-informed about fertility treatments and their availability. The social taboos linked to infertility are slowly changing, allowing more couples to discuss it more openly. While awareness is increasing and access to information is becoming easy, we see that fewer young people actively seek contraception, and access to fertility treatment is also delayed.
However, the policies and programs of the Indian Government are highly inclusive and progressive. India was one of the first countries to establish a National Family Planning Program in 1952, and it has evolved significantly since then. In 2023, GoI successfully stabilized the total fertility rate (TFR) at a replacement level of 2. At the same time, India's development sector is actively working to improve family planning solutions and raise awareness. Our partnerships with these organizations help us provide wider access to contraceptives, especially long-acting contraception. Our effort is focused on dispelling myths and creating knowledge and awareness of the long-term benefits for women and their families.
EF: What is Organon's strategy for attracting and retaining top talent, and what key skills do you prioritize to address future healthcare needs?
VS: What stands out about Organon is how it truly "walks the talk." The company’s transparency, collaboration, and commitment to women’s health are inspiring. The slogan "Here for Her Health" isn’t just a phrase; it guides everything we do, from strategy to daily operations.
I’m particularly proud of our focus on gender equity. Organon India has achieved a 50/50 gender balance in leadership roles, and we’re working on ensuring pay equity by collaborating with partners to address any gaps. This commitment to equity creates a motivated, inclusive environment that helps us attract top talent.
While we currently operate with a lean structure, we anticipate opening new business units as we expand our portfolio. Organon's unique focus on women's health gives us a distinct advantage in attracting exceptional individuals passionate about making a difference. Our core values – authenticity, integrity, collaboration, resilience, passion, and belonging – guide our talent acquisition strategy, ensuring a diverse and dynamic workforce.
Looking ahead, we recognize the evolving needs of the healthcare landscape. As digital tools and data analytics become increasingly important, we prioritize both traditional pharmaceutical expertise and cutting-edge digital skills. This includes investing in upskilling and reskilling programs for our existing employees, ensuring they're equipped to navigate the changing dynamics of the industry. We're building a team that not only excels in their respective fields but also embraces the future of healthcare.
EF: What new nickname would you give India to reflect its evolving role beyond the "pharmacy of the world"?
VS: I recently attended an OPPI meeting and was inspired by one concept: transitioning India from being the "pharmaceutical manufacturer of the world" to the "pharma powerhouse of the world." This vision aligns perfectly with the government’s 2047 goals, which aim to position India as a leader in digital innovation, talent development, clinical research, manufacturing, and exports.
To achieve this, collaboration between local manufacturers and multinational companies is essential. It will require a step-by-step approach led by industry bodies playing a crucial role in coordinating efforts across different sectors.
With such collective action, India can become a global pharma leader—not just in API manufacturing but across the entire pharmaceutical industry. I also see this as an important opportunity for collaboration for Indian innovators (like startups, institutions, and research bodies) to learn from companies and commercialize their newly developed solutions both in the pharmaceutical and device space as well as for India to gain a more prominent space in the global supply chain.
EF: What would you celebrate as the company approaches its fourth anniversary?
VS: When you spin-off from a larger company, a lot of work is involved in building everything from the ground up. You need to set up systems, processes, and business models—essentially creating a whole new organization. Over the last three years, especially in the past six months, we’ve made incredible progress and continue to push forward. The way our team has collaborated and come together has been remarkable. From ensuring compliance to managing regulatory requirements, the transition has been seamless. This seamless integration is something I would wholeheartedly toast to and celebrate with the team.
We have built a strong foundation, particularly in women’s healthcare. The equity and trust we have established in the market have carried us through multiple transitions and integrations with different companies. Despite all the changes, we’ve held on to our leadership position and maintained the confidence of healthcare professionals. That resilience and ability to emerge stronger is another achievement worth celebrating. We have stayed true to our commitments and values, which we will continue to uphold as a company.
