Hyderabad - Biotech & Pharmaceutical Hub Updates

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http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...3053343100.htm
Bulk drug research centre to come up at NIPER-Hyderabad

Hyderabad, July 29

The Government will be setting up a National Centre for Research and Development in Bulk Drugs at National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER), Hyderabad.

This was announced by Mr Ashok Kumar, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India, while addressing the students of NIPER at its first convocation ceremony here on Thursday.

“Action has already been initiated to establish the centre. On completion of the entire project, I am confident that Hyderabad will have a centre which will provide leadership in pharmaceutical sciences and other related areas,” the official said.

Dr Ahmed Kamal, Project Director, NIPER-Hyderabad said that in addition to Master of Science (Pharma) which is being offered by the institute at present, certificate programmes in intellectual property, technology management, drug discovery, development and pre-clinical research would be offered soon.

“A large number of our students have been able to secure placement in reputed industries and research establishments,” he added.

About 96 students of the first and second batch of MS (Pharma) were given away certificates in the convocation.

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Hip replacement facility available at Hyderabad hospital

Hyderabad-based Mediciti Hospitals, India's first facility to have excelled incomputer navigated hip replacement, is hosting the first structured training course on Hip Arthroplastywith the aim of educating surgeons for this procedure.

At a press conference in Hyderabad, Dr Ramesh Chandra from Mediciti Orthopedics department said that with cutting edge medicines and surgery, high bearing hip replacements will help people lead productive lives.

Mediciti is performing computer navigated hip replacements with an aim to achieve perfection, he said.

Normally surgeons make an error of 17% in alignments during hip transplants, but by using the computer-aidednavigated procedure doctors are ableto achieve 98% perfection and only 2% error, he said.

The navigation also minimizes the complications. Mediciti is the first hospital in India to do hip transplants using computer aided navigation. The cost for this type of surgery is a little more than the conventional surgery and depends on the transplants being used, Chandra said.

Mediciti is the only hospital to have 20 micron filters and the air gets filtered twenty times per hour which means lesser infections.

The conference will perform five live surgeries for the benefit of doctors and 150 to 200 doctors from across India are participating in this conference.

Mediciti is the first Aesculap teaching academy for joint replacement in India.Aesculap academies are rated by Frost and Sullivan as being the premier training institutes for super specialists. Medicit hospitals Orthopedics department has collaborated with the Aesculap academy to bring the program to India.

Eminent surgeons from Germany and leading Indian facilities including the AIIMS of Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai
will form the panel of experts in guiding the interactive sessions during the conference.

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R&D centre in bulk drugs to come up in City

HYDERABAD: The union ministry of chemicals & fertilizers on Thursday said it will set up a national centre for research and development in bulk drugs with an estimated investment of Rs 45 crore. The proposed centre, which will come up at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) campus in Hyderabad is likely to provide leadership in pharmaceutical sciences and other related areas.

“The ministry is resolutely working towards building up basic support systems to create the enabling environment for R&D activities by creating infrastructure as well as mechanisms,’’ said Ashok Kumar, secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals.

Addressing the gathering at the first convocation of NIPER, he said, “The government has set up six new NIPERs under the ammended NIPER Act 1998. These centres of excellence offer courses in higher education, research and development in pharmaceutical sciences.” Currently NIPER’s centres are located in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Hajipur, Kolkata, Guwahati and Rae Bareli.

NIPER Hyderabad was set up as part of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) India.

Emphasising the significance of pharmaceutical science and research in the field of modern medical science, Dr Seyed E Hasnain, vice chancellor, University of Hyderabad, said students should contribute towards nation-building in the form of research and development.

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State to build new complex to house OGH


State-of-the-art complex to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 200 crore

It will be built on the vacant land behind the existing hospital

The eight-storeyed building will be completed in three years

HYDERABAD: The State government has decided to take up construction of a state-of-the-art complex for housing the Osmania General Hospital with an estimated Rs. 200 crore.

The construction of the new complex, a proposed eight-storeyed building that could be scaled up depending on the requirement, would be taken up in the vacant land available behind the existing hospital. It will be completed in three years.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah who convened a meeting of the Health Department officials on Sunday, gave green signal for construction of the new complex. The government gave its nod for construction of another new building at Koti to house the office of the Director of Medical Education and other offices presently located in old structures at an estimated Rs. 60 crore in the open place available on the same premises.

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Healthcare city to come up near Hi-Tec City

HYDERABAD: A healthcare city with world class facilities will come up near Hi-Tec City.

US-based Alexandria Inc, will develop the healthcare city on five acres land with multispeciality hospitals, clinics and other allied medical facilities at Khanamet village in Serilingampally mandal in the city.

Officials said Alexandria Inc has recently entered into an agreement with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority for the five acre land, which was given at the rate of Rs 10 crore per acre.

HMDA has already earmarked about 200 acres MedTech Valley at Jawaharnagar area. Two companies have shown interest to establish their units. But Alaxandria Inc wanted land near Hi-Tec City where it purchased land from the urban development authority.

"The civil works will begin within three months and will be completed in two years. The promoter has already begun the process to award construction works to developers," a representative of the group told TOI.

A draft plan for the healthcare city has been prepared by Alexandria Equities Management (India) Pvt Ltd. According to the report, Indian healthcare market was about $38 billion and is expected to increase 15 per cent every year.

The healthcare city is being developed by Alexandria Inc on the lines of Dubai healthcare city, which is spread over 23.1 million square feet.

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DuPont India bets big on agri, auto, biotech businesses


DuPont India aims to earn a billion dollar revenue by 2012-13 riding on agriculture, automotive and industrial biotechnology business in the country, Balvinder Singh Kalsi, president, south Asia, DuPont, said.

Kalsi told Financial Chronicle here on Monday that DuPont India proposed to partner premier research organisations like the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), under PPP programme to augment agriculture production in India.

He said the company would more than double the scientist headcount at its Hyderabad based DuPont Knowledge Centre over the next three year period to develop new range of products for the domestic market primarily in agriculture business vertical as also feed global research projects for new products for the diversified businesses of the company. The company has 300 scientists at its facility in Hyderabad.

Kalsi said the firm, which earned $ 500 million revenue here last year, intended to log about $ 600 million plus this year, driving closer to the target to feature India as among the top five global markets for the diversified American multinational. It currently ranks tenth in the DuPont global ranking.

He said: “We have approached the government for collaboration with its security agencies for supply of our ballistic range of products. We are in talks but there are certain clearances required.” He added “our protection technologies offer materials and solutions to the military, para-military, industrial workers etc, while our safety resources unit works with clients like Reliance and the Tata group to upgrade the safety standards in their facilities to world-class levels.”

He said over the next three years as part of the plan to build India into the top five global markets the company would ramp up its two global centres at Hyderabad: DuPont Knowledge Centre, which focuses on science and technology, product development, working closely with customers bringing out new products and applications for India and other developing markets, working on joint projects for global research.

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Apollo Hospitals to set up stem cell facility

HYDERABAD: Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd., is focusing on stem cell therapy. The company, tied up with USbased StemCyte today and would together invest $15 million to set up a stem cell facility besides conducting research development activities at its Hyderabad centre.

Stem cells can be sourced from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow and are used in medical therapies. They can be grown and transformed into specialised cells for future therapies.

"The idea is to undertake intensive research and provide personalised medicine in future for patients. It's a 50:50 joint venture and will carry out research in several areas including chronic stroke, spinal cord injury and muscular dystrophy," said Dr Pratap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group.

While phase I involves $15 million, both companies would pump in capital as required.

The upcoming facility, which will focus on stem cell culturing, trials and research, will be the fourth such unit for StemCyte. It currently has three facilities, one each in the US, HongKong and South Korea. Apollo also said it has also tied up with Quintiles to start clinical trials unit at Apollo Health City in Hyderabad. It had earlier announced $10 million investment in this venture. The company is waiting for regulatory approvals to conduct first in human (FIH) studies.

Apollo is also conducting a study to assess the reasons for widespread CardioVascular Diseases (CVDs) in India. "Many young patients these days are prone to cardiac arrests. We want to assess why Indians are predisposed to cardiovascular diseases at an younger age," said Reddy adding that Apollo performed 9,800 cardiac surgeries last year alone. The hospital chain is working with the Institute of Genetic Engineering and Integrative Biology and National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in this regard. As part of its 2014 growth strategy, Apollo will invest Rs 2,200 crore to create 3,000 new beds.

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Medtech Valley in city soon


HMDA project on medical devices, research

1,200 acres earmarked near Shameerpet

Project also to get connectivity with the Outer Ring Road

HYDERABAD: As part of its infrastructure development initiative, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has taken up a major project in the form of a world-class cluster that would be engaged in manufacture of medical devices and related equipment.

Called ‘Medtech Valley' and located at Jawahar Nagar, the project is to shape as country's first integrated medical devices cluster and also be a major centre for research and development apart from manufacture of the medical devices and equipment.

A site of around 1,200 acres has been earmarked near Shameerpet for the project with the first phase taken up in 200 acres. Adjacent to BITS (Pilani) Hyderabad campus and in close proximity to the Genome Valley, the project is also to get connectivity with the Outer Ring Road.

The external infrastructure for Medtech Valley being taken up include development of road network at Rs.10 crore, water supply scheme at Rs.5 crore, power supply and street lighting at a cost of Rs.3 crore apart from a Disaster Management Centre at Rs.2 crore while residential level development is to be by Rajiv Swagruha.

It is also proposed to establish a common utility block (CUB) which will include service facility for training personnel to repair, maintain, commission and refurbish the advanced equipment and instruments.

The broad categories for the medical devices include material science and biomaterials, cardiovascular and diabetes, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, oncology, neurology and diagnostics and imaging. The segmentation of the market has pacemakers, defibrillators, catheters and valves, joint replacement such as plates, nails, dynamic hip screw, limb deformity correction devices, intra-ocular lens, newer range of genetic diagnostic kits, radiology, ultrasound, CT, MRI and others.

According to the broad estimates available with the HMDA, the global medical devices market in the year 2008 has been estimated at $220 billion.

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Dr Reddy's plans to spend Rs 1,600 cr for capacity expansion in two years
Hyderabad September 11, 2010, 1:01 IST

Drug maker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) has lined up investments worth around Rs 1,600 crore over the next two years for capacity expansion and building new capabilities.

The company feels these investments will help it meet future growth requirements and become a $3-billion company by 2013.

“We will be investing Rs 150 crore in the biologics segment and $150 million (over Rs 700 crore) every year for the next two years in global generics and pharmaceutical services and active ingredients (PSAI),” Satish Reddy, managing director and chief operating officer of the Hyderabad-based company, told Business Standard.

Reddy said DRL had been steadily building capabilities and capacities over the years, besides improving productivity and reducing costs. The capital expenditure is based on the company’s business plans for the next three-four years.

Satish ReddyDRL is betting big on follow-on biologics, or biosimilars, which, according to Reddy, presents a huge opportunity for the company. Biosimilars are products that are marketed after expiration of patents and claim to have similar properties to the existing biologic products.

“We are very well positioned in terms of developing biosimilar products and commercialising them,” Reddy said, adding that Reditux, launched three years ago, was still the only biosimilar monoclonal antibody.

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Russia-India biotech network soon

The first phase of the network will be functional by October

Eighth edition of BioAsia 2011 to be held from February 21 to 24

HYDERABAD: An exclusive online platform to facilitate collaboration and networking between stakeholders of Russian and Indian biotech sectors was announced by the Chief Minister K. Rosaiah here on Tuesday.

Called as the Russia India Biotech Network (RIBN), it was jointly developed by the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA) and Russian Biotech Association. It would gradually be opened to other countries.

The platform would be useful for bio and pharma companies, scientists, university students of the two countries exploring new technology, both for both business and science. The concept was mooted during BioAsia-2010 conference held here in February this year. The first phase of the platform would be functional by October and become fully operational during BioAsia 2011. Mr. Rosaiah said that the State recognising the importance of biotech in India's knowledge economy, succeeded in providing the right environment, infrastructure and encouragement to leading biotech companies to establish their units in the city's Biotech Park, Genome Valley.

Mr. Vyacheslav I Trubnikov, Ambassador Extraordinary, said decades ago India sought Russian technology and expertise for its steel plants. It was now it was the turn of Russia to learn from India's experience in biotechnology.

The Chief Minister also officially announced that the eighth edition of BioAsia 2011 will be held from February 21 to 24 here. The event would feature multi-track conferences on medicine, agriculture and health, with focus on early diagnosis of cancer, increasing agriculture productivity and high quality and low cost vaccines and medicines. Tradeshows, presentation of awards including Dr. YSR BioAsia Innovation Award for young scientist aged below 35 would also mark the event.

Dr. B. S. Bajaj, convener, BioAsia 2011, said the global event would focus on business development between Indian and foreign companies. In the last edition organised here, 4,000 delegates from 21 countries took part. It also recorded 800 onsite B2B meetings and featured about 160 companies. The next year's event would be even bigger. Later Raif Vasilov, CEO, Russian Bio-industry Association and B. S. Bajaj, secretary, FABA, exchanged the agreement on Russia-India Biotech Network in the presence of Mr. Rosaiah.

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Eco management vital in pharma sector: Rosaiah

Mr K. Rosaiah

Hyderabad, Sept. 17

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, on Friday said environmental management was the major challenge for the growth and development of pharma sector in the country and the State.

He said that the State pharma exports are expected to grow by about per cent this year.

Addressing the national seminar on Indian Pharma Industry here today, the Chief Minister said the State Government with the assistance of the Centre is promoting a pharma cluster near Hyderabad at a project cost of Rs 66 crore to upgrade the existing infrastructure at Jeedimatla and Pashamylaram industrial estates which are the prominent for pharma production in the country.

In order to support the pharma sector with necessary human resources, the State has promoted 255 pharma colleges with an annual intake of 15,240 students.

In addition, the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) has been set up in Hyderabad with an outlay of Rs 180 crore to offer post graduate courses and research programmes for pharma sector.

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Earth Hospital plans expansion using franchisee route



Healing touch: The Chairman of Earth Hospital group, Mr Anish M. Kurias, in Hyderabad on Sunday . —

Hyderabad, Sept. 19

Earth Hospital, a chain of multi-speciality Ayurvedic hospitals, today opened its first facility in Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad and outlined plans to commission a network of hospitals through the franchisee route.

After inaugurating the hospital today, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, said that the years of Ayurvedic learning is very useful in contemporary treatments and has the potential to eradicate diseases from its roots.

Even now, there is a section of society which is dependent on Ayurvedic treatments.

He felt that there is a need to popularise what the traditional Indian methodologies could do in treatment of diseases. In a world dominated by modern-day medicine, he said that the team that has put together this facility needs to be complimented.

The Chairman of Earth Hospital group, Dr Anish M. Kurias, said the hospital chain, which has been developed over the years, now currently has five of them in Karnataka and this is the sixth in the network. “We plan to add more hospitals in Andhra Pradesh, and are also considering entering into other States—Tamil Nadu and Gujarat through the franchisee route,” he said.

The facility at Hyderabad has 35 doctors and provides a wide range of therapies for chronic disorders, skin ailments, diabetes and joint pains. The learning gathered through the ages is effectively used to address current day problems, he added.

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Investments in biotechnology sector on the anvil


HYDERABAD: The State capital is set to receive several investments in the biotechnology area in the coming months.


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone for the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, being taken up at a cost of Rs. 250 crore, on October 19. This will be followed by the setting up of animal resource centre with an estimated Rs. 400 crore by the Indian Council for Medical Research in the land allocated to it. Alexandria Real Estate India Pvt Limited has announced its plans to invest Rs. 1,000 crore for setting up an incubation centre and a ready-to-occupy lab space, Alexandria Innovation Centre, at the Genome Valley.

Thriving

Biotechnology Industry Organisation executive vice-president Alan F. Eisenberg has announced that the organisation had decided to hold its annual event BIO, the world's largest biotech-pharma trade event in Hyderabad for the next four years. “Biotechnology industry which grew from US $ million to US $ 3 billion in the past few years is thriving in India,” Mr. Eisenberg said.

Briefing reporters on the conclusion of this year's edition of BIO, held for the first time in Hyderabad, he said the biotech industry, considered to be US and Europe-centric, was now clamouring to meet with the Indian industry owing to the rapid strides witnessed here. Representatives of over 200 reputed firms participated in the event. Principal Secretary, Industries, B.P. Acharya, said the event was aimed at exposing the local industry to international collaborations and it featured visits of the delegates to Genome Valley and other biotech parks.

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AP sees big boost to biotech sector

PM to lay stone for Rs 250-cr animal biotech institute.

Hyderabad, Sept.22

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is set to lay the foundation stone on October 19 for the Rs 250-crore National Institute of Animal Biotechnology coming up in the University of Hyderabad campus here, according to Mr B.P. Acharya, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Acharya said this is just one of several in a chain of investments that will provide significant boost to the biotechnology sector in the State.

Addressing a press conference along with Mr Alan F. Eisenberg, Vice-President, Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO), here on Wednesday, Mr Acharya said that Alexandria Real Estate India has decided to invest Rs 1,000 crore in setting up an incubation centre and ready-to-occupy lab space in Genome Valley — The Alexandra Innovation Centre. Mr Acharya said the Indian Council of Medical Research is in the process of setting up an Animal Resource Centre with an investment of Rs 400 crore in the Genome valley, to make it a very intensive biotechnology hub in the country.

The principal secretary said that over 200 companies are currently operating in the Genome Valley cluster in the State and there have been a series of events centred around biotechnology and pharma sector in the last few days in Hyderabad, reflecting growing interest in the country and the State.

Hyderabad as hub

Mr Eisenberg said BIO, representing global biotechnology companies, has decided to make Hyderabad a venue for BIO in India over the next four years. Members of BIO, which has over 20,000 representatives across the globe, will play a role in the growth of biotechnology industry in partnership with Indian companies.

He said the biotechnology industry in the country has grown from $700 million in 2003 to about $4 billion, reflecting heightened interest and the potential the sector holds.

BIO is aimed at facilitating local industry players to partner their counterparts and explore opportunities to work collaboratively. Business-to-business interaction continues to be the main focus of the BIO event. Over 220 firms from across the world participated in the event hosted here.

He also expressed hope that the interactions between companies would pave the way for more collaborations, possibly leading to new investments.

Dr Sathya Dash, Chief Operating Officer of Association of Biotechnology-Led Enterprises, said that the infrastructure created in Hyderabad will help attract more investments into the State from the biotech sector players.

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Lonza to invest in Genome Valley

HYDERABAD: Switzerland-headquartered Lonza AG, a global biopharma company, will invest Rs.250 crore in a phased manner in its project at the Genome Valley here.

This was indicated by its CEO Stefan Borgas in his key-note address at the Pharma CEOs conclave which concluded here on Friday.

Principal Secretary, Industries, B. P. Acharya, said in a press release later that the ground-breaking for the project is planned to be held during Bio Asia 2011 to be held from February 21. Land for the project was allotted by APIIC in June last year in the Biotech Park, phase-II.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, who gave away the export awards of Pharmaexcil, complimented Mr. Borgas for his decision to invest in Genome Valley.

He announced that a new cluster called ‘Medtech Valley' is coming up at Jawaharnagar near Genome Valley for medical devices and equipment manufacturing industries.

Mr. Rosaiah presented 12 Outstanding Export Performance Awards. Ranbaxy Laboraories Limited, Cadila Healthcare, Aurobindo Pharma and Matrix Laboratories were among the companies which bagged Awards.

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World-class BMT unit in city

Facility for thalassemia patients to come up in six months

Italian doctors to visit city to identify hospitals for setting up BMT unit

In India 10,000 to 12,000 children are born every year with thalassemia

Hyderabad: Good news for thalassemia patients. A world-class bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit is being set up in Hyderabad shortly. The unit being promoted by Guido Lucarelli and his team from Italy will be ready in six months. A renowned transplant physician, Prof. Lucarelli, heads the BMT department at the Instituto Mediterraneo di ematologia (iMe), Italy.

Italian doctors will be paying a three-day visit to Hyderabad next month to visit the identified hospitals for setting up the BMT unit, said Chandrakant Agarawal, the man instrumental in bringing the facility to the city.

He told presspersons here on Wednesday that the unique thing about Prof. Lucarelli was that he was successful in doing transplants for mismatched sibling donors and 50 per cent HLA matched donors.

An industrialist, Mr. Agarawal came into contact with the Italian doctor while seeking treatment for his 12-year-old granddaughter in Rome. Due to non-availability of matched sibling donor, she was dependent on transfusion. She underwent 50 per cent HLA matched transplant from her mother last year. Mr. Agarawal found the success rate at iMe in partially matched BMT cases almost 90 per cent. On his suggestion the Italian doctors showed interest in setting up a BMT unit at Hyderabad, Mr. Agarawal said.

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/6681061.cms
DuPont to invest $100 mn to step up R&D here

DELAWARE: US-based chemicals giant DuPont plans to invest up to $100 million (approximately Rs 452 crore) over the next three years to expand its research and development (R&D) unit in Hyderabad , a top official said.

“India is among our top 10 revenue contributors. The plan is to make it among the top five. That’s the reason why we are investing more in DKC (DuPont Knowledge Center, Hyderabad),” said Mark P Vergnano, executive vice-president, at a global press meet recently.

DuPont, which was founded in 1802 as a gunpowder mill and later transformed itself into a chemical maker, producing iconic brands such as Nylon, Teflon and Kevlar, set up DKC — its biggest R&D unit outside the US — in 2008 for around Rs 150 crore.

DuPont is targeting a revenue of $1 billion from its Indian business by 2012, compared with $500 million in 2009, said Balvinder Singh Kalsi, who is in charge of the company’s Indian operations. The company’s global sales was $26 billion in 2009. However, DuPont has no plans to list on Indian bourses, Mr Kalsi said.

The proposed investment in India is part of DuPont’s global growth plans, termed as ‘megatrends’ within the company, that include tapping growth in emerging markets, increasing food productivity and decreasing dependence on fossil fuels and security solutions business. DuPont is focusing more on emerging economies as developed countries struggle to emerge from the recession.

A portion of DuPont’s investment in India will be utilised to develop a newer technology for protective equipment, including helmets and vests for armed forces. The company is developing a testing lab in DKC for this purpose and is in talks with the Indian government for clearances, DuPont officials said. The company will also use the funds to improve technology for its products for tyre, road construction and packaging solutions industries in India.

“We are looking at coming out with newer products to improve efficiency in agriculture, clean technologies and our other focus areas. We have filed about six patents in all these areas,” said Homi Bhedwar, director, DKC. Further, Pioneer Hi-Bred , a DuPont subsidiary, plans to set up a seed processing plant in India in 2011, said Paul Schickler, president, Pioneer. But, Mr Schickler declined to reveal how much does the company plan to invest for this unit and where would it set up the unit.

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8 Oct, 2010, 01.08AM IST,
Sequoia Cap invests Rs 70 cr in Celon Labs


BANGALORE: Private equity major Sequoia Capital has made its first investment in the pharmaceutical sector in the country by pumping in `70 crore into Celon Labs. This is the first round of equity funding for the Hyderabad-based company that manufactures a range of branded generic formulations to treat cancer.

“The wide range of drugs in its portfolio and the growing market opportunity are huge factors in driving this investment,” says Sandeep Singhal, managing director, Sequoia Capital, who termed this as a mid-size deal for the fund, that has in the past backed healthcare services companies such as diagnostics major Dr Lal Path Labs and eye-care chain Vasan Eye Care.



Celon Labs will use the funds to double its manufacturing facility. It currently produces 30 million tablets. “We will also upgrade the product portfolio and add on new drugs in oncology and gynaecology care,” says KV Ravindra, founder Celon Labs, who expects the company to hit a revenue target of `100 crore by year end.

The firm, set up in 2007, now derives nearly a fifth of its revenues from exports to the Asia Pacific, Latin America and African markets. “But, we are primarily an India-focused company and will drive future growth in domestic markets,” says Mr Ravindra, who expects the company to invest more in research directed at producing more branded generics in oncological and critical care.


“We think of investments on a company level and less as sectors,” says Mr Singhal. Two of the fund’s earlier growth stage investments in healthcare services are now ripe for public listings with IPOs expected for both Dr Lal Path Labs and Vasan Eye Care in the next 18 months. “This is a market with opportunity for both good investments and exits,” says Mr Singhal.

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http://www.business-standard.com/ind...-40-cr/410556/

Fusion Pharma to invest Rs 40 cr
BS Reporter /Hyderabad October 08, 2010, 0:25 IST

Hyderabad-based Fusion Pharma, a startup drug maker engaged in production of antibiotics and nutritional supplements, is planning to invest Rs 40 crore in building a new plant in the pharma special economic zone at Jadcherla, about 80 km from here.

Fusion is raising the entire investment from Prosecure, a venture capital firm that focuses on early stage companies in the healthcare and life sciences area.

According to company promoters Pavan Gorukanti and Madhu Ramadugu, the new plant will have a capacity to produce 15 million dosages annually. It will be set up over an area of three acres and employ about 120 people.

Gorukanti, a physician by training, and Ramadugu, a graduate in pharmacy with experience in distribution of pharmaceuticals, started Fusion in 2007 with an initial investment of Rs 10 crore. This money was raised from the their personal assets and contribution from family members.

They told Business Standard that the new plant would come up according to the standards of the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).

After obtaining the US FDA certification, the company would enter the regulated markets of the US and European Union.

Fusion, which currently produces 12 products, proposes to add eight more products to its portfolio in the next 12 months. With a sales force of 65 persons, it is currently marketing its products in eight states.

The company plans to expand its operations across India by adding an additional 100 persons to its marketing division.

At present, the four southern states account for 60 per cent of its revenues. This is expected to decline to 40 per cent in future.