Strides went through a restructuring few Indian pharma promoters would have attempted: it sold two of its best businesses, raised cash, and rebuilt around a focused platform. The third chapter is now compounding precisely because the first two paid for it. Here is the journey, year by year.
- Founded in 1990 in Bangalore, focused first on generic injectables and soft-gel capsules for regulated markets.
- It sold its injectables business to Mylan for $1.75 billion in 2013, then the largest Indian pharma deal.
- It restructured and renamed as Strides Pharma Science in 2018, later hiving off biologics arm Stelis.
- By FY25 revenue topped ₹4,500 crore as US generics recovered and profitability returned.
- FY25 Revenue tops ₹4,500 crore as profit recovers from FY24 lows.
1990 Arun Kumar founds Strides Arcolab in Bangalore, focused on generic injectables and soft-gelatin capsules for regulated markets.
2005 It becomes one of India’s largest contract manufacturers of injectable pharmaceuticals.
Feb 2013 It sells the injectables business to Mylan for $1.75 billion, the largest pharma deal in Indian history at the time.
2015 It acquires Aspen’s Australian generics business and merges with Shasun to become Strides Shasun.
2018 It restructures and renames as Strides Pharma Science.
2021 US generics pricing pressure intensifies, compressing margins.
2023 Stelis, the biologics arm, is hived off as a separate entity.
2024 US generic pricing recovers and new launches accelerate.
2025 Africa institutional generics stabilises and grows, with US generics recovery flagged as the primary growth driver.
2026 The stock is a multibagger from its 2023 lows, and profitability returns.
The pattern is the point
Strides attempted a restructuring no other Indian pharma promoter would have dared, selling two of its best businesses, raising cash, and rebuilding around a focused platform. The third business now compounds because the first two paid for it: a clean balance sheet, a focused mix, and a cycle that has finally turned.
