Navigating the Next 100 Years
West’s Strategy for Supporting Pharma Companies in APAC
Nilesh Shah, Vice President and General Manager of Emerging Markets, West Pharmaceutical Services
1. What is West's pivotal role in the pharmaceutical industry across APAC?
West has been a global leader in packaging components and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products for over a century. We are committed to delivering high quality, market-leading solutions to our partners, in line with global regulatory standards.
In APAC, we have maintained a strong presence for many decades, serving our customers and patients in the region. We have established three state-of-the-art manufacturing sites in Singapore, China, and India, allowing us to better meet local demand for high-quality pharmaceutical packaging and delivery systems.
We are focused on delivering high-quality products and services, including vial containment solutions, prefillable syringe systems, and self-injection platforms, to support the growing demand for safe and effective drug delivery in the region. Chances are, if you’ve ever been vaccinated, or if you or a loved one has ever needed to take an injected medicine, you’ve probably come in contact with a West product.
With a commitment to excellence and customer-centric approach, West collaborates closely with key regional partners to ensure a lasting legacy of patient care, contributing to the efficiency, reliability, and safety of the pharmaceutical drug delivery.
2. What do you foresee the growth trajectory for key emerging markets like Singapore, India, South Korea, and China to be like?
The pharmaceutical industry in key emerging APAC markets is on a steady growth trajectory due to significant healthcare spending and an increased focus on innovation post pandemic.
As such, there are plenty of opportunities for pharmaceutical firms to grow within these markets.
For example, in China, the Healthy China 2030 initiative is expected to expand the nation’s healthcare industry to around US$2.4 trillion. India has seen its healthcare market grow by more than a fifth over the last five years, owing to increased spending on both private and public healthcare, booming pharma manufacturing and services, as well as a boost in healthcare technology ecosystem.
Simultaneously, Singapore and South Korea boast deep expertise in biologics and biosimilars and high value products. They offer fertile ground for the development of advanced pharmaceutical centres, with favourable environments rich in investment opportunities and government support. For example, South Korea has set ambitious goals to capture 5 per cent of the global bio market by 2025 and manufacture 100 new drugs by 2026. This underscores the country’s commitment to growth in the sector. Likewise, Singapore actively fosters innovation through programmes like the Pharma Innovation Programme Singapore (PIPS), which drives the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies.
3. What is your strategic vision for the region over the next three to five years?
Our vision for West in APAC over the next three to five years is centred around enhancing patient care, supporting healthcare providers, and partnering with injectable drug manufacturers, while empowering our team and driving sustainable business growth. We aim to develop and deliver innovative packaging and drug delivery solutions that enhance patient safety, convenience, and adherence to the ever-evolving regulatory requirements.
Closer collaboration with healthcare providers and injectable drug manufacturers to understand their needs and challenges is also a goal. Working with them will help us provide products and services that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery and drug administration with speed and agility.
Internally, we also want to invest in the development and well-being of our team members, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence. To support our growth ambitions in the region, we will also continue to grow the bench-strength for critical roles and build West as a great place to work.
Finally, we want to accelerate our growth in the region. To this end, we are pursuing strategic growth opportunities that strengthen and diversify our product portfolio. This will allow us to not only support new injectable drug molecules that are being developed, but also cater to the evolving needs of our existing customers. Additionally, we aim to expand our footprint by targeting untapped geographies and segments.
By focusing on these priorities, we aim to make a meaningful impact on patient care, healthcare delivery, and drug administration in this region, while ensuring the long-term success of our business.
4. What is your plan for rolling out your strategy in the key APAC markets?
APAC is one of our most important markets. Its rapid advancements in drug discovery innovation make it a key driver of our future growth, and we have been strategically investing here to capitalise on this potential.
For example, we inaugurated our newly advanced manufacturing facility in Singapore last year as part of our global investment to meet the growing needs of our customers. Equipped with industryleading coating, pharmaceutical washing, sterilisation and automated vision inspection capabilities for elastomers, the newly upgraded Singapore facility allows us to provide high-quality containment products for injectable drugs at one location in APAC, from start to finish, helping to enhance overall lead time for customers.
We take a tailored approach when rolling out our strategy in the key APAC markets as each market has its unique opportunities.
For example, Singapore is a leading biotech hub in Asia, with a high concentration of global players and industry leaders. Thus, our strategy is around how we can support our customers in a better and more efficient manner within the market’s advanced infrastructure and pharma ecosystem, while leveraging Singapore’s gateway location to serve our customers in the region. In India, where our key strength lies in serving the export market, our focus is to continue to be on top of providing high-quality solutions aligned to current regulatory requirements and be more flexible in meeting our customers’ changing requirements, enabling their greater success.
Despite the different approaches and priorities for different markets, it all comes down to how we are capturing APAC's growth potential while delivering exceptional patient care support.
5. What do you see as the key trends that are shaping the market here? And how are you responding to these trends?
As today’s medicines are changing with more complex and sensitive molecules, the drug delivery market will evolve. Injectable therapies are one of the fastest growing segments of the drug industry, which is mainly due to the growth of biologics. This is tied to the increasing demand for vaccines and other biologic medicines used in the treatment of chronic diseases like arthritis and diabetes.
There is also more focus on improving delivery of drugs, with the rise of the home-based healthcare market. This is beyond regular necessities like safety, efficacy, and quality – but looking at other benefits for patients such as precision and ease of administering the medicines. Most importantly, there is an increase in regulatory requirements for quality control around the world. All of this translates into strong demand for high-quality and innovative containment solutions and delivery systems.
The rise of GLP-1 drugs means there is also an increasing demand for innovative containment solutions to manage these drugs effectively. West has played a significant role in helping to deliver diabetes care globally for over 90 years. We continue to have a high participation rate in this area, as well as the growing areas of obesity and other metabolic disorders.
West recognises these trends and is actively investing into the future. We will continue to expand our footprint, upgrade our facilities, and develop our team.
We take pride in our highly skilled team who delivers top-notch advice and consultation to our customers regarding our product offerings and solutions. Their in-depth insights on biologics, combination products, and container closure integrity, while keeping pace with regulatory updates, provide great added value for our customers as they navigate new solutions and innovations.
As for technological advancements, West remains committed to the pursuit of scientific innovation and partnerships to address the changing needs of today and the future. We have made strategic R&D investments including a new R&D Lab in Radnor, in the US – supporting enhancements in chemistry, materials sciences, and biology – and a Maker Space in Bangalore, India facilitating digitisation and automation. These investments allow us to bring our scientific and technical, digital and research expertise together, so we can continue to define new possibilities for patients everywhere.
6. What key initiatives can we expect from West in the region this year?
We continue to invest and have confidence in the growth of the region. Earlier this year, our team in South Korea relocated to a new office facility in Seoul and doubled its warehouse capacity. This is part of West's ongoing investment in APAC and strategically positions West in key markets with enhanced scalability to support the future growth needs of our customers. This investment and expansion not only positions us well to support the growing demand for high-value and innovative products in Korea with the booming biologics sector, but also demonstrates our commitment to developing business and healthcare benefits for APAC and ultimately for patients across the globe.
Aligned with our APAC strategy and vision, we are deepening our partnerships with healthcare providers and injectable drug manufacturers. By continuously enhancing our packaging and drug delivery solutions and services, we ensure that our offerings improve patient safety, convenience, and adhere to the ever-evolving regulatory requirements.
Internally, we are committed to continuous learning and development for our team as we continue to encourage a culture of open communication and teamwork. We want to ensure our team stays current and aligned on the latest technologies and regulations, so we can deliver exceptional service and support to our customers and ultimately, patients across the region and world.
Author Bio
Overseeing the Asia Pacific and South America regions, Nilesh is responsible for growing the West's presence and leadership in emerging markets. He joined West in 2023 with more than 25 years in the medical devices industry and global experience while residing in the USA, Europe and most recently in Singapore.
