Unimark Remedies to push formulations biz in India

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Unimark Remedies Ltd (URL), one of the leading bulk drug manufacturers in the country, is looking at aggressively growing its finished formulations business in India and abroad.

The Rs 650-crore Mumbai-based company had started to sell finished formulations in a small way just two years ago. Now it plans to launch 30-35 new products in the market, mainly in oncology, critical care and diagnostics, to double the turnover from this segment to Rs 120-130 crore within a year, according to D P Srivasthava,CEO, Zen Life Sciences, the formulation arm of Unimark.

“We are also evolving a unique model of Comprehensive Cancer Care (CCU) centres, which will involve doctors and hospitals as stakeholders,” he says. The plans are to offer radiation, chemotherapy and oncology-specialised pharmacies under one roof, each with an investment of Rs 5-6 crore.

The company intends to open 14-16 such facilities across the country within a year as comprehensive cancer care hospitals are rare in the country, says Srivasthava.

The business model of Zen will be to partner with companies for selling products. The company markets about 34 products of Serum Institute of India in the oncology segment, Natco Pharma and Celon Labs of Hyderabad. It also markets a unique product Divercil (Tigecycline) for treating life-threatening infections.

Zen is also planning to increase the number of medical representatives from the current 260 to 300 people and add more divisions, like wound care and nutritional products.

Globally, the company will initially sell its products in semi-regulated markets and Europe. It is also eyeing acquisition of finished formulation players with specialised products in focused segments, says Srivasthava.

The privately held Unimark, which sold 26 per cent of its equity to Citi Venture two years ago for Rs 130 crore, has invested close to Rs 300 crore to create US FDA-approved manufacturing facilities at Bavla in Ahmedabad and Vapi.

The company is a major manufacturer of key antibiotic products like cephalosporins, betalactams, tetracyclins and synthetic products and supplies to the top 10 generic companies in the world, along with multinationals like Pfizer.

It is also developing huge capacities for carbapenems and oncology products with global standards. Its products are exported to over 65 countries.

Going forward, the two-decade-old Unimark may opt for an initial public offer to raise funds. The company had last year acquired KDL Biotech, a listed company. It has been growing consistently at a rate of 25 per cent for the past few years.

Srivasthava says Unimark has doubled the headcount of scientists to about 130 in the last 1-2 years to create capabilities to develop 10-15 active pharmaceutical ingredients every year.