INTERVIEW WITH GAVIN UPTER, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF GENERIC HEALTH AND HARRY KARELIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BIOTECH CAPITAL LIMITED (BTC)

“BTC - Investee company Generic Health Secures Top 5 Indian Pharmaceutical Company As Significant Shareholder”

http://www.brr.com.au/event/50037

TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2008, 12:00 PM.

            BRR    Today, we are joined by Harry Karelis, Executive Director of Biotech Capital,

10                    and Gavin Upter, MD of Generic Health. Biotech Capital is a major shareholder in Generic. Thanks for joining us, gentlemen.

            BTC     Thank you.

            BTC     Thanks.

15        BRR    Generic Health has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with India's Lupin Limited. Before we look at the terms of the deal, what does it mean for Generic and could you provide us with some background on Lupin, please?

            BTC     Yes, sure, certainly. In terms of the background on Lupin, Lupin is a

20                    multinational pharmaceutical company which has a presence in a number of markets around the world including the US and UK and many markets in Europe. I think importantly for us, Lupin was one of the first companies that actually made an active position to be here in the Australian market, and that goes back probably about four years ago now. They are one of the first

25                    Indian-based companies who started exploring and actively progressing and entering to the Australian market. So they certainly have an extensive understanding of the market here in Australia. Just recently, they also made an acquisition in Japan. Again, one of the first companies, first generic companies, to acquire in Japan and enter into that market. So they certainly

30                    have a very broad reach and a very global understanding of the generic sector. I think it is also valuable for us in terms of them being an innovation-led pharmaceutical company and they are working on a number of innovations in the generic space which are either new chemicals altogether or just enhancements of existing generic molecules. So, I think certainly, that

35                    might give you some background as to who Lupin is.

            BRR    Thanks for that, Gavin. Gavin, the precise commercial terms remain confidential. Could you outline the partnership in general terms, especially focusing on the benefits it offers Generic?

40        BTC     Yes, sure. I suppose in general terms, the partnership is really about -- there are two parts and the first is the supply arrangement, which is something that goes back now with us and Lupin for a number of years and that certainly continues to be very much part of the arrangement with Lupin in terms of supply. That stretches to a number of products that we are working with Lupin

45                    on. Obviously, the arrangement is about extending the number of products that we work with Lupin on. I suppose that is on the supply side of the arrangements. Really on the other side is the investment, where Lupin is making an investment in Generic Health. The investment is something that obviously gives us additional resources. We continue to grow our business to pursue some of our growth initiatives and to just have those resources available to continue our endeavours to grow our market share in the Australian market.

5          BRR    Thank you. Having such a key market player in Lupin, seeking you out must be an encouraging endorsement of your operation, Gavin?

            BTC     Yes, it certainly is for us and I think probably even more so is the fact that Lupin knows this market very well, and as I said, had been in the market for a number of years and had researched this market very, very well. So with that

10                    understanding of the market, Lupin’s decision to invest in us does give us a lot of confidence in our model. I think it is also relevant to the fact that we have had an extensive working relationship with Lupin. So that again just says that here is a company who understands a lot about us even more than just a superficial level, through the relationship that we have had understands

15                    the market, and therefore, their decision to invest in us, we take as a big vote of confidence of, I suppose, our marketing strategy and our ability to then execute on that.

            BRR    Generic’s drug market is in a much more developed stage in India compared

20                    to Australia. What do you hope to learn from your working relationship with Lupin?

            BTC     Well, again, I suppose, coming back to the point that Lupin is represented in a number of markets, I think the Indian market is one example, but there are certainly a lot of differences between the Indian market and the Australian

25                    market. I think Lupin's presence in some of the other markets that are more similar to the Australian market, they are a highly regulated market like the US and some of the European markets, is an area where we will benefit from their knowledge of those markets. Certainly, the trends, the things that have happened in those markets, the way genericisation, I suppose, has taken

30                    place and what has influenced products to move towards a more generic-type market in those markets is something that we can learn from Lupin's experiences there and help us in our ability here to get the Australian market to more closely resemble some of those highly regulated markets where generic uptake is a much higher percentage than what we see here in

35                    Australia. Ultimately, that generic uptake reduces costs for the payers, be those the government or the pharmacies or the end-users. So it is certainly in everyone’s best interest to see that usage of generic medicines get up there and hopefully we can pick on Lupin's learning in some of those other markets and try to influence the Australian market in some way.

40

            BRR    Finally, Gavin, what are your expectations on the growth of generic drugs market in Australia in the medium to long term?

            BTC     Certainly in the short to medium term, I think that the market growth will be somewhat constrained. There are certainly a lot of pricing pressures in the

45                    market with a lot of competition in the market at the moment and I think that that will impact them and probably reduce the growth rate certainly for the next -- I do not think we will see negative growth but I think it may be relatively flat in terms of total dollar value over the short to medium term, but certainly medium to long term, the growth prospects are fantastic, mainly driven by the fact that there will still be a number of key molecules which will be coming with patents over the next few years and that will continue to drive the value of the generic sector. I think, certainly, medium to longer term, there are great prospects in the generic space.

5

            BRR    Thanks for the rundown, Gavin. We really appreciate your time. That has been Gavin Upter speaking to us on Boardroom Radio.

INTERVIEW CONCLUDED

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