Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

Glenmark was incorporated on 18 November 1977. It began producing generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients for markets in India, Russia, and Africa, and went public on Indian stock exchanges in 1999. Glenn Saldanha, Gracias's son, became managing director in 2001 after working at Eli Lilly and Company and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under his leadership the company expanded internationally; by 2008 it had become one of India's larger pharmaceutical manufacturers by sales volume, and in 2011 consolidated worldwide sales reached $778 million. That year Glenmark established its first North American manufacturing facility in Monroe, North Carolina.

In the mid-2010s, Glenmark changed direction. The generic drug industry was seeing fewer patent expirations, and the company began developing proprietary medicines in oncology, dermatology, and respiratory treatments. It researched drugs internally and licensed them to larger pharmaceutical companies. By 2016, four Glenmark drugs were in clinical development. A respiratory treatment was licensed for commercialisation in North America and Japan, and a diabetes drug was licensed to Merck's German division. Sales that fiscal year were approximately ₹81 billion (about $1.25 billion), ranking it fourth among India's pharmaceutical manufacturers by revenue.

Glenmark built a consumer healthcare business in India that included the antifungal Candid, launched in 1979, the respiratory medication Ascoril, and La Shield. It divested the intimate hygiene brand VWash to Hindustan Unilever in March 2020. In January 2024, Glenmark and its subsidiary Ichnos Sciences formed Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI) to consolidate oncology drug discovery. Three molecules were in clinical development at launch, two with FDA orphan drug designations. Later in 2024, Glenmark sold a 75 percent stake in Glenmark Life Sciences to Nirma Limited for approximately ₹5,651 crore (about $680 million). In August 2025, it transferred its consumer healthcare products to a subsidiary, Glenmark Consumer Care Limited.

Operations

Glenmark operates manufacturing facilities in India, the United States, Argentina, and the Czech Republic. Its oldest plant, in Maharashtra, opened in 1983. Other Indian sites are in Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, and Sikkim. The company also runs a facility in Pilar, Argentina, focused on oncology injectables, and a plant in the Czech Republic acquired through the 2007 purchase of Medicamenta. U.S. corporate offices are in Elmwood Park, New Jersey.

The Monroe, North Carolina plant, opened in 2018, is Glenmark's sole U.S. manufacturing site. In August 2021 the company recalled all products made there. The FDA identified 17 manufacturing deficiencies and issued a warning letter in 2022. After corrective actions, a December 2025 inspection was classified as Voluntary Action Indicated, allowing manufacturing to resume.

Several Indian facilities have also drawn FDA citations. Good manufacturing practice violations brought a warning letter to the Himachal Pradesh plant in October 2019. The Goa facility was cited in November 2022 for inadequate procedures to verify product strength and purity. A July 2025 warning letter cited the Madhya Pradesh plant for deficiencies in cleaning and testing procedures.

Products and pipeline

Glenmark's proprietary respiratory drug RYALTRIS, a nasal spray combining an antihistamine and a corticosteroid, received U.S. FDA approval for seasonal allergic rhinitis in adults and adolescents aged 12 and above. The company launched it in the United States in 2022. By 2026 it was available in 55 countries, and in July 2026 the FDA expanded approval to children aged 6 to under 12.