Company Watch

Bal Phrama to commission Uttarakhand facility shortly

Usha Sharma - Mumbai

The Bangalore-based pharmaceutical company Bal Phrama continues to be in expansion mode, by investing Rs 30 crore in a manufacturing facility at Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. The new formulation facility will begin operations by end August. The company has designed its facility as per US FDA guidelines. In the new facility, company will be manufacturing tablets, capsules and ointments.

The company has three manufacturing units, one for APIs coupled with research and development (R&D), second for formulations both located at Bangalore and a third unit for parenterals at Pune. All units are equipped with ultramodern state-of-the-art technology, which conform to GMP standards as laid down by WHO, as well as the latest Form Fill and Seal (FFS) technology.

Giving more details, Deepak Sarda, Vice President, Marketing, Bal Pharma, said, "In the initial stages, company will be producing 20 products in its existing therapeutic areas."

Recently, the company has announced its domestic expansion plans in the Andhra Pradesh (AP) market with a view to garner control over a market in which they already have a substantial presence and market share. With a current manpower strength of 1000, it plans to hire around 500 personnel in the current year. Out of the total, it has plans to hire 50 marketing executives for sales in AP, which is expected to increase three fold in this financial year.

"We have taken this strategic step to market aggressively in South India with a prime focus in AP; one of India's largest pharma market. The company has a strong establishment in other three states of South and feels this is a right time to look towards the largest market in the South, especially when the company has won acknowledgement at the international level too. We are looking at an exponential growth taking the present AP market to Rs 20 crore in the next two years. This step will also support our vision to be a Rs 1000 crore company in the near future," Sarda further added.

The total Indian pharma market is estimated to be around Rs 32409 crore growing at the rate of 15 percent. AP alone contributes 9.5 percent to the total Indian pharma market. The pharma market in AP is estimated to be Rs 2900 crore growing at 14 percent. Currently, Bal Pharma has well established brands like Aziwin, Diabend-M, Lipofix in the AP market.

Recently, it has introduced few promising molecules like Telong (Telmisartan 20, 40 and Telmisartan-H) for hypertension, Rabifix (Rabeprazole 20 mg and Rabeprazole 20 mg with Domperidone 30 mg) PPI, Glyvog (Voglibose 0.2 & 0.3 mg) for diabetes and Aziwin-AX (Azithromycin with Ambroxol) for respiratory infections. Bal Pharma plans to launch many molecules in various therapeutic segments like cephalosporins, anti-arthritis, nutraceuticals, anti hypertensives, anti-diabetes (OHA's), anti-allergics and new lipid lowering agents, on all India basis which will boost up the net sales of company in the months to come.

The company is planning to file more Drug Master Files (DMFs) in next few months, and would be entering 15 new countries within the next financial year.

u.sharma@expressindia.com