The Ahmedabad based drug manufacturer Claris Life Sciences bets big on injectables manufacturing with focus on creating brand equity around the global markets and focus on semi regulated markets as the route to emerge as a major drug maker from India.
The six year old company, which posted a turnover of over Rs.290 crore during last year and likely to post above Rs.400 crore during the current fiscal, hopes to grow to a Rs.1000 crore company by 2008. Currently Claris is a market leader in many of its range of products and delivery systems, numbering about 425 products, across enteral and parenteral, nutrition, anaesthesia, blood products and plasma volume expanders, anti-infectives, dialysis and transplants, cardiac care, infusion therapy, medical disposables etc.
Its products are sold in over 70 countries and have about 1000 product registrations across the globe, including six ANDAs with the US FDA. This includes delivery of soon to be off patent ondansentron, through bag as the delivery system. Bag technology developed by Claris, in association with a Swedish player, is extensively used in most of its injectables and less than half a dozen players exist in this segment. Though injectables constitute about 15-20 per cent of the global pharma market, major companies focusing exclusively on a wide range of such products are very few.
"Injectables are absorbed into the blood instantly and reaches the heart in split seconds. Slight errors are fatal and this is one reason why most of the manufacturers are not willing to focus on this area. A comprehensive range of parenteral manufacturing requires high-end technology and huge investments in comparison to normal formulation manufacturing. Further, it is not easy to abide by the regulatory clearances," says Sushil Handa, founder & CEO, Claris.
Claris has invested over Rs.110 crore at its 80 acre manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad. The unit already has received approvals from regulatory agencies like UK MHRA, TGA Australia, ANVISA, GCC, INVIMA of Columbia, NAM of Finland etc. Claris is also in the process of getting approval from US FDA. Further, the company is investing about Rs.235 crore at the facility to meet orders at hand and anticipating future growth. Setting up of new units, capacity expansion of existing manufacturing lines of propofol from the current half a million per month to 1.4 million per month, expansion of lipid and aqueous lines by three times etc. are being carried out at the unit. The company is also setting up an erythropoietin manufacturing plant.
The company follows the philosophy of setting up own subsidiaries in various geographical locations and to create brand equity for Claris, as most of its products are direct hospital supplies. It has subsidiaries and offices in 16 odd countries and the recent additions include, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Venezuela, Chile etc.
"Our products are priced at par with our competitors as we manufacture products having same or better quality than our competitors. Claris has reached a stage to grow and soon we will tap the regulated markets in a big way," says Handa.
The company has received Netherlands approval for Propofol, its lead brand and will soon launch Propofol in Holland, Finland, UK and Germany. The company is also partnering with a leading European pharma major to out license its products in Europe. Claris has entered into strategic tie-ups with Mayne Pharma and Sandoz to market its injectables in Australia. In New Zealand, it has registered Metronidazole and has got two year supply contract for its entire requirement in New Zealand. Claris has started supply of its complex Lipid Emulsion to Delta Select, a subsidiary of Plasma Select, one of the leading hospital suppliers in Germany.
Besides, the company is planning to introduce about half a dozen oncology products within six months and to add more products in its basket of eight-cardiology drugs.