Novo Holdings sharpens India focus with bigger bets on niche hospitals

By Rishika Sadam

HYDERABAD (Reuters) -Novo Holdings, which controls obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk, is sharpening its focus on India, targeting single-specialty hospitals and contract drugmakers to tap high-growth healthcare segments, according to a senior company executive.

Patients in the world's most populous nation are increasingly preferring specialised amenities, which some analysts and industry insiders say will form the bedrock of demand in the Indian healthcare market. The sector is also booming with increasing private and foreign investments.

Novo Holdings, which had 142 billion euros ($165.60 billion) in assets under management by 2024-end, is in talks with several Indian companies, Amit Kakar, managing partner and head of Asia, told Reuters in an interview this week.

The life sciences investment powerhouse that manages assets for the Novo Nordisk Foundation, one of the world's biggest philanthropic bodies, holds 77% voting control in Novo Nordisk, the maker of obesity drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic.

"When we first started investing (in India), our average ticket size was $20 million-$30 million. Now, it's between $50 million and $125 million. So clearly, we're doing bigger deals," Kakar said, adding that Novo had set up a dedicated team in Mumbai to deepen its presence.

Novo is also exploring India’s budding medical technology sector for investments in the long run, Kakar said.

Novo, whose largest Asia investment to-date has been a minority stake in India's Manipal Hospitals in 2024, is focused on specialised healthcare and complex drug manufacturing.

Kakar called single-specialty hospitals - smaller facilities offering care in areas such as oncology, mother and child health, and nephrology - the "next phase" in hospital care.

"If you look at a lot of hospital care, it is moving outside the big hospital," he said.

The segment is projected to reach $40.14 billion by 2032 from $16.2 billion in 2024, driven by rising health awareness and chronic disease prevalence, according to Credence Research.

Novo is also exploring investments in contract drugmakers, especially those focused on making complex biological drugs used in the treatment of serious illnesses like cancer.

Other areas of interest include senior care and step-down care or support for patients recovering from major surgeries or cardiac events who no longer need intensive care.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Rishika Sadam; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Subhranshu Sahu)