Key takeaways
- 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.
- 1990 Arun Sawhney 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 sells its biotech and Australian businesses.
- 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.
- FY25 Revenue tops ₹4,500 crore as profit recovers from FY24 lows.
- 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.
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.
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.
