Meet the maker: EPM talks to ACG Capsules' Kamlesh Oza

In the latest instalment of 'Meet the Maker' EPM talks to Kamlesh Oza, senior vice president for sales at ACG Capsules. Here, Kamlesh talks starting out in India, founding a company, and trying not to lose sight of the big picture.

Could you give us a brief description of yourself and if possible what you do at ACG?

I manage global sales for the ACG capsules team – covering Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

I am a pharmacist with a PhD in pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry from The Ohio State University. Early on in my career, I decided to go into the excipient world – firstly in tablet coatings and excipients, and then moving into capsules for the remainder of my 30 years+ career.

My career started in India, where I was instrumental in building an excipient factory. I then went on to manage global sales, which has involved extensive overseas travel. I thoroughly enjoy the challenge that a sales role brings – even 30 years on.

Please describe your average day in five words.

Focused, attention and conscious engagement.

At what point did you decide to be involved in the pharma market?

I am a third-generation pharmacist, so working in the sector came naturally to me. I studied in both India and the US, but knew from an early stage that my skillset would be better suited to negotiation and sales within the sector.

What has been your biggest achievement?

Establishing a successful company that provided real value in the Indian sub-continent for outsourcing pre-blended or ready-to-use excipients - in an environment of inexpensive labour. I was an integral part of a team that introduced an exciting new concept. We always knew that in-house blending would be cheaper, which is why we worked hard to pursue this route. At the end of the day, we wanted to take the pain away from the customer in terms of having to do it themselves.

What would you say is your worst trait?

I have an obsessive pursuit of getting to the bottom of things, however trivial something may be. But I always try not to lose sight of the big picture.

What do you love about your job?

The challenges it presents. The highly competitive market, and trying to get on top of the game. I thrive on the need to hunt and not to farm.

If anything, what would you change about your job?

Nothing. I am still very passionate about the work I do, and the progress that we are making.

If you weren’t in the pharma industry what job would you like to do?

I would love to train dogs, which is one of my hobbies. I have trained three of my own. What I can see is that there are similar skills needed in the working world. With people, you need to work out what is the key driver with each person and to then work with them accordingly.

What challenges do you foresee being important over the next 10 years?

The biggest challenge will be industry consolidation. The buying power of the customer is increasing. They have more leverage, and the industry is shrinking and becoming more competitive.

It is vital for suppliers to have the ability to sell within every segment, which is one of my key challenges. We need to do the basics even better than we have done before. Now, more than ever, we need to find out what the customer wants, where are they going, and then how we can fit in. As ever, it’s about creating differentiation.

In your opinion, what will offer the biggest opportunities in the future?

I believe that the market around customised medicines is becoming very exciting. More and more of us are self-medicating and we are all living a lot longer. The most prolific area will be tablets and capsules. I believe this is where the biggest opportunity lies. The mission will be for suppliers to provide the best solution – the best oral dosage form (easier to swallow and identify). It will become vital to be the manufacturing partner of choice, as well as helping customers to find innovative ways to make life easier for the end consumer. We need to hit these challenges head on, which is something we are focusing on at ACG.