Sun's US arm to double capacity

US-based Caraco Pharmaceuticals, an independent subsidiary of Indian drug major Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (SPIL), has initiated a $22-million expansion plan to double its capacity at its Detroit facility. The US-listed unit will also increase its headcount from the current 600 in the next five years.

Sources said the expansion follows capacity constraints faced by Caraco. The company already markets over 17 drugs in the US. It has a pipeline of 27 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) pending for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, including four tentative nods, for 19 drugs.

The company also markets Sun Pharma products in the US as per a pre-determined marketing arrangement. Caraco's sales had almost trebled during last year to $350 million, helped by the launch of Pantoprazole, a generic of gastro-intestinal drug Protonix and anti-epileptic drug Oxcarbazepine, generic version of Novartis's Trileptal. When Sun Pharma took over Caraco in 2002, its sales were less than a million, and since then the company had recorded continues growth.

The sources said that Caraco had started the expansion of its main facility, adjacent to its existing manufacturing unit this year. Once completed, this will add about 140,000 sqft of manufacturing face for tablets and liquids. The company also had acquired a packaging facility and leased a warehouse facility of approximately 137,500 sqft for storage of finished goods distribution, storage of inventory, and administrative space, said the sources.