Q&A: Lifestar Pharma CEO discusses the company's efforts to lead in multisource specialty generics

Drug Store News: Tell us about Lifestar Pharma. What makes this company unique?   Vijay Soni: Lifestar Pharma was formed in 2016 to build and grow a pharmaceutical front-end business in the United States by its parent company, Mankind Pharma. Mankind, established in 1995, is a top-five pharma company in India with a deep history in pharma in over 30 countries. You can walk into any of our offices worldwide to a friendly environment right from day one. We are working with a team of self-motivated people with a collaborative approach. A cohesive work environment gives you space for free thinking, expression of ideas and liberty to explore new possibilities without fear of failure. Teamwork is always encouraged. This teamwork allows all the team members to feel empowered and inspire people on different projects to learn various skills and valuable insights into the industry.

We at Lifestar Pharma firmly believe in developing the right skill sets with behavioral and leadership attributes to ensure that our future leaders reflect the utmost standard of excellence in every activity they undertake. With a stimulating, friendly work environment, innovation comes naturally. It has allowed us to be an emerging leader in U.S. multisource specialty generics, focusing on developing and marketing affordable, high quality, multisource specialty generics for the U.S. market. Lifestar has the R&D and manufacturing capabilities for both formulations and active pharma ingredients at scale, and the insight to be in the generic market without undercutting established prices.

DSN: Why should American pharmacies and pharmacists get involved with your operation?
VS: While Lifestar is comparatively young in the United States, it has developed close and long-lasting relationships with our customers. We share with our customers Lifestar’s vision as a company, “Serving life.” Doing this starts with assuring our supply chain is solid, even with a global pandemic. We are committed to having a robust safety stock to minimize any potential disruptions. Secondly, Lifestar has a strong pipeline of new products that will provide patients with more affordable options. In our business, constant and transparent communication with buyers is a critical component of customer satisfaction. Within a relatively short time in the United States, Lifestar has established itself as a reliable and responsible supplier. While engaging with Lifestar, customers and consumers can come to expect a high level of responsiveness and professionalism. At Lifestar, we believe that customers’ satisfaction is a result of high quality service.

DSN: What therapeutic categories are you involved with?
VS: Lifestar is fully integrated with in-house development and manufacturing capabilities for various orals solids, nebulizers, complex ophthalmic/otic solution/suspensions, and injectable formulations. Apart from formulations, Lifestar will be integrated with its own active pharma ingredients’ development and manufacturing for several products. Lifestar’s portfolio is a blend of first-to-file, first-to-
market, high-volume OSDs, and complex sterile products. In the coming few years, Lifestar will be launching 80-plus products

DSN: What are the latest product launches and products approved by the Food and Drug Administration?
VS: Lifestar has launched numerous generic products in the past six months. They include olmesartan medoxomil/hydrochlorothiazide (Benicar HCT), fenofibrate (Tricor), and amitriptyline HCl (Elavil). In addition to several internal filings, Mankind and Lifestar continue to explore partnering opportunities for distribution of partners’ products in the United States.