•Soma Das: Did it cross your mind that this is a Japanese company and that Japanese companies have a reputation of being scrupulous?

When you make a deal, you don’t look at anything in isolation. Instead, you consider the hard facts and the soft facts together. As for Japan as a country, it’s certainly relationship focussed. Word and trust matter, they are part of Japanese culture. Actually, they are a part of Asian culture in general, not just Japan.

•Kakoli Chatterjee: Japan is the second largest pharma market in the world. How will the Daiichi Sankyo alliance help you in this market?

The Japanese market has been stagnant at around $70 billion for some time now. It’s very hard to enter the Japanese market but Ranbaxy has already done this successfully. I see a big opportunity for growth as there is a huge healthcare deficit in Japan, which is helping to bring in many pro-generics reforms. Ranbaxy and Daiichi Sankyo will add up to be the second largest pharma company in Japan.

•Malvika Chandan: How will this deal make a difference to Ranbaxy employees?

Ranbaxy will not be run and managed by Daiichi Sankyo, but by a board that will be chaired by me. So firstly, there is absolutely no change in the running and management of the company. Secondly, I don’t look at this as an acquisition but as a coming together of two companies. Daiichi Sankyo has around 15,000 employees and Ranbaxy has around 12,000. And there is going to be no change in how the employees are going to work. What must happen is that the series of opportunities that we have identified as ones we can exploit together must be exploited.

... contd.