Bafna Pharma bets on anaemia drug

Chennai-based Bafna Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which acquired haematinic drug (used to treat iron-deficiency anaemia) Raricap from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) affiliate NR Jet recently, is planning to strengthen its presence in the drugs market by adding 14 more products to its basket through acquisitions.

It is in the process of acquiring 14 haematinic drugs, used to increase haemoglobin levels in blood, with an expected investment of around Rs 25 crore, said Mahaveer Chand Bafna, chairman and managing director, Bafna Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

The company is targetting turnover of Rs 100 crore from the segment in the next three years. The haematinics market in India is presentlyaround Rs 900 crore and is growing at 15 per cent, he said quoting ORG-IMS data.

We have initiated talks with a few Indian pharma companies to acquire their haematinic brands. We will have a basket of 15 products in the segment in the next six months, in the first phase, with an investment of Rs 20-25 crore, said Bafna. The investment for acquisitions would come from equity from strategic partners and debt, he added.

On April 4, 2011, it completed acquisition of Raricap, from J&J’s affiliate NR Jet for Rs 25 crore. Raricap has Rs 10 crore market and the company expects to increase the product’s sales to Rs 50 crore out of the Rs 100 crore turnover expected from the segment in the next three years.

The company is recruiting a team of 250 medical representatives to market haematinic drugs and plans to invest around Rs 2 crore every month for marketing. With a legacy of over 40 years, Raricap would be the major product for us in the segment. The other products we are looking for would not be in the range of the Raricap buy, he said.

Bafna has been manufacturing Raricap on contract for J&J for around two years. It discontinued the manufacturing deal about six months ago, after the product underwent some formulation changes, he added. J&J has not been promoting the drug for the past few years which affected the market performance of the drug, he added.

The deal would allow Bafna to use J&J’s distribution network to market the product. We will use the readymade structure of distributors and, carrying and forwarding (C&F) agencies network of J&J by paying them, said Bafna. It is also planning to export the product to the less regulated markets, in a later stage.

The company, which has a turnover of close to Rs 100 crore at present, has around 23 products, mainly in the lifestyle disease segment including cardiovascular and anti-diabetic therapeutic segments, marketed in the North Eastern parts of the country. It is in the process of a pan-India market expansion, which is expected to be complete by May, 2011.

The company has been focusing on exports market for the past several years, and has recently turned focus on exporting drugs to regulated markets like the UK along with increasing presence in the domestic market, he added.