Though some of the pharma associations feel that there were no initiatives on behalf of the state as well as from central governments to encourage pharma industry in the northern states, many of the corporates of the sector are upbeat on the enormous potential the region holds.
The markets of North India covering Baddi, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and J&K for pharma manufacturing holds huge promise for pharma manufacturing, they aver.
The presence of healthcare providers and a large patient pool create opportunities for every therapeutic drug to succeed here. The region is a top sales generator for most pharma companies in the country. In addition, a substantial portion of manufacture also caters to the needs of emerging markets.
Some of the leading pharma companies present in the region are Cipla, Venus Remedies, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Jubilant Organosys, Surya Pharma Nectar Lifesciences, Panacea Biotec, Ind-Swift and Fresenius Kabi Oncology (the erstwhile Dabur Pharma).From Karnataka two companies Bal Pharma and Micro Labs have also invested here.
Baddi is still having maximum share among excise free zone in terms of production. All small and medium size units doing contract manufacturing have strong presence in here, said industry representatives.
The Hyderabad-based MedManor Organics has set up its manufacturing facility in Roorkee tehsil. The nine year-old plant spans an area of 25,000 sq. ft. with a built up area of 18,000 sq. ft.
“Having a facility in North India enables access to markets of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal, Bihar, Punjab, besides eastern and western states of the country. There is a huge patient pool and the region is a key platform to garner sales,” said VR Kannan, President- Specialty Divisions, MedManor Organics Ltd, Hyderabad.
“The region is home to the largest pharma markets which is Uttar Pradesh for all therapeutic formulations. The states of Haryana, Punjab and in Rajasthan particularly Jaipur indicate a demand for cardiovascular and neuro psychiatry drugs. Having a manufacturing facility in North India is the most viable strategy to garner growth. A visible trend is the rising healthcare demands emerging from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. More over a profusion of corporate healthcare providers like Fortis, Max and Medanta-Medicity to name a few support the pharmaceutical sales. Bihar too is developing as a key growth market for many pharma majors with new healthcare facilities being established. Another region that is indicating promise is Lucknow,” noted Kannan.
The big challenge in the region is the ability to reach every nook and corner of this market which is huge and with stiff competition, said Kannan.
In the case of MedManor Organics which has a GMP compliant unit at Roorkee located in the excise free zone, which manufactures a slew of drugs in specialties like dermatology, paediatrics and more recently in neuropathology and liver formulations are seen to be a key prescription for hospitals in the regions.
For Karnataka’s Micro Labs, the Baddi plant is designed to regulatory standards and the systems are same as per other regulatory plants of the company. But the company noted that despite hectic pharma manufacturing activity, the region has been extremely tough to attract the right technical workforce. Further poor road infrastructure hinders vehicle movement and transportation of goods.
Those migrating to the region to seek employment avenues find it difficult with the paucity of educational institutions and access to healthcare facilities. Families residing in the region need to depend on adjoining city Panchkula or Chandigarh.
Micro Labs began operating from the region in April 2007 with the immediate purpose of producing tablet and capsule products for the domestic market. It received its licenses from the Local Licensing Authority, Himachal Pradesh, for the manufacture of Oral Solid Dosage form and follows WHO cGMP guidelines. The facility is also acknowledged by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (North Zone) for Certificate Of Pharmaceuticals Products as per WHO Certification Scheme. The facility has bagged successive quality excellence awards since 2009. In addition, the plant won the ET-IMEA 2012 Gold Award in the pharma sector under the large business category instituted along with Frost & Sullivan.
The Baddi plant maintains a culture of manufacturing excellence, ensuring maximum production capacity, optimum inventory, which reduces the wastage, decreases cost, enhances efficiency and ultimately provide greater customers satisfaction. Further, the facility has sought performance appraisals by unbiased, objective external agencies, and have volunteered to have yearly audit by Indian Drug Manufacturing Association ( IDMA), said the company.
It is important to note that although the plant is currently catering to domestic market , the standards followed are global as evidenced by the Quality Excellence Award and the Manufacturing Excellence award. Therefore plans are chalked out to start export to Europe and other regulatory market from Baddi Plant in future, said SM Mudda, executive director, Technical & Operations, Micro Labs.
The total manpower at Baddi plant is 275 comprising all senior and line function staff and operators. While all critical works have been entrusted to highly qualified and experienced personnel, minimum qualification required for an operator is graduate and or diploma in pharmacy/ engineering, he said.
The company envisages an ongoing expansion to meet the future high production requirement. Thus granulation area has been extended from four granulation suites to five suites with highly automated, time saving, flame-proof granulators cum fluid bed processors. The compression suites have been extended from six to nine with biometric access control to have better control on operations.
Similarly packing line also has been extended from nine to 11 with automation by adding auto cartonator line with built-in camera system to defect free product. In stores, the facility has been modified with mobile rack system for maximum utilization of vertical space and is fully air conditioned for maintain quality of materials. Quality Control department has been expanded and the number of HPLC’s increased from six to 12 and Dissolution machine from three to six with auto sampling facility. ETP plant has been also modernized and expanded to higher capacity. All these expansions helped us in increasing high quality and productivity, the officials said.
Further Micro Labs has embarked on the Sikkim project which is set up at an investment of Rs 180 crore and keeping in line with the philosophy of the company is designed to meet the global regulatory standards. As evidenced from the standards followed by Baddi plant, Micro believes in uniform standards for medicines, be it domestic or for export and it is driven through its Corporate Quality Management System, he said.
The Sikkim unit was built to cater the needs of domestic market for solid dosage form covering tablets & capsules. The facility is designed to handle multi product, producing anti-diabetics, CVS, CNS, anxiolytics and general category drug products. The production is always under the supervision of dedicated key personnel who have been with us from long time and have handle this product at earlier location Hosur, Bengaluru and Pondicherry , said Micro Labs officials.