Aurobindo Pharma Plans Us Cos

Aurobindo Pharma is setting up two joint ventures for formulations in the US, with an investment of $12 million.

The company will pick up 50 percent stake in the formulate cephalosporin drugs unit, while it will hold a 75 percent share in the non-cephalosporin drugs manufacturing facility. It will also acquire a 50 per cent stake in an existing manufacturing unit in China.

P V Rama Prasad Reddy, managing director, speaking at the inaugural function of the company's 80,000-sq ft research centre here, said that the centre would provide the required facilities and environment for over 100 scientists to conduct research on advanced molecules. Sixty scientists have already joined the centre and 30 more would join in two months.

 

According to Reddy, the centre, which needs further investment of Rs 35 crore on research and development in the next two-three years, will begin bio-technology and natural product research in the next phase. He said that new molecule discovery is a long-term goal of the company and the research centre would provide the platform for it.

The centre, he said, meets cGLP requirements and would have four divisions.

The chemical research division will focus on developing products with better purity profiles and enhancing the yield of various processes. The analytical research division will develop process technology and methods of analysis, and isolation and preparation of product profiles, while the formulation division will develop new dosage forms, novel drug delivery systems.

The information technology and regulatory affairs division will provide comprehensive and up to date database, and assists production units to make them compliant with requirements of various regulatory agencies.

Aurobindo Pharma, which has clocked a turnover of Rs 740 crore in last fiscal, expects to post Rs 1,000-crore turnover in the current fiscal.

The company is the largest producer of semi-synthetic penicillin in the country and fifth biggest globally. In cephalosporins, the company is close to becoming the largest producer in the country.