With more people around the world dying from obesity than starvation, poor nutrition is now recognized as a major risk factor for chronic diseases. Also an ageing population gives rise to lifestyle-related diseases, whose impact can be lessened by making healthier choices earlier in life.
Given the deteriorating health condition of the society, patients are being encouraged to take part in their own treatment. At the front lines of this battle are nutritional products that have been proven to help prevent or cure diseases. These nutritional products present a tantalizing opportunity for breakthroughs to prevent and manage common health problems, offering consumer-focused solutions to issues that are currently addressed only by pharmaceutical interventions.
Despite being a hot spot for growth, pharmaceutical industry still suffers from the same challenges as the rest of the sector, with market growth barely keeping up with the rise in the gross domestic product. Apprehending this, Arif Vazirally founded Global Calcium in 1979 – one of the world’s most innovative companies in Carbohydrate Chemistry with 9 manufacturing plants spread across 3 campuses in Southern India.
Today, Global Calcium, which invested in its own windmills over a decade ago, is a gold-standard holder in green energy by the UNFCC. It is an EU-GMP/USFDA/Japan FDA certified global company and an established authority for global pharmaceutical standards.
The company initially commenced operations with a technology joint venture with Sandoz, Switzerland and is now family owned and has active operations in over 60 countries. By volume, it is ranked as one of the top three producers in the world of organic mineral products, with a focus on advanced Injectable Active Ingredients (IAI). The company has been successfully inspected by several global drug authorities, including USFDA, EUGMP, COFEPRIS, KFDA, etc.
An Expert Mentor
Global Calcium is backed by an excellent management team comprising of industry specialists, technocrats, entrepreneurs and business specialists bringing in strong domain expertise in fields such as investment banking, to consulting, to behind the scenes pure sciences.
Arif Vazirally is the Chairman of the Calcium Group, which includes Global Calcium. His grandfather, started one of the first large scale glass factories in India in the early part of the 20th century, namely, Vazir Glass Works. One of their key customers was Sandoz and what started as a simple conversation progressed to a comprehensive business opportunity. Even today, with over 1200 customers across the globe, Sandoz, which is a part of the Novartis Group, remains one of Global Calcium’s oldest and key customers.
Today the company is managed by its CEO, Sahil Vaz and in 2010; Global Calcium became the first company in the world to synthesize a double-mineral-double acid salt called ‘Magical’ for which it received numerous awards, patents and recognition amongst global experts in the field.
In 2018, the company expects to be the first company in the world to receive a patent on unique lifesaving drugs for iron injection. With a full time work force exceeding 1000 people, Global Calcium has over 150 specialized scientist and chemists.
Characteristic Services and Strategies
Given that India is just one position behind the largest pharmaceutical industry in the world, Global Calcium is posed to deliver premium healthcare products using the best of business excellence.
Global Calcium currently has 9 manufacturing plants with a portfolio of over 100 active pharmaceutical products. Their vision is to continue to focus on innovative niche products for critical pharmaceutical and biological applications with comprehensive traceability and a superb global distribution network. Furthermore, as part of the ‘Made-In-India’ initiative, the company is investing heavily in down-stream manufacturing of its key products. The company spends more than 20% of its annual profits in R&D and regulatory activities. In the last 2 years, the company has ploughed back more than 65 crores in product innovation and process optimization.
Global Calcium prioritizes Research and Development over everything else; companies today are well aware that only with superior R&D can they continue to innovate and deliver international-quality products. A team of focused high-end specialists uses optimized processes to test, pilot trial, and retest every product innovation. The focused R&D effort and initiatives are behind the cost advantages that ensures competitiveness despite using advanced machinery with minimum manual intervention.
Future Roadmap
Even though the company is approaching 4 decades, the culture and vibe in the company is that of a start-up. This is despite the fact, that even today, several of the founding employees are still engaged in active roles across the organization. This is partially achieved by having an ultra-flat hierarchy and a highly meritorious approach to roles and responsibilities.
Source :-The 10 Most Admired Pharma Companies in 2018
Global Calcium: Making Everyday Life Better
