Pliva Research (India) Private Limited, a subsidiary of Croatia based Pliva has completed construction of a state-of-the-art research & development centre in Goa. Although pharmaceutical product development will be the company's ultimate objective, the initial focus will be on performing bio-equivalence, pharmaco-kinetic studies for the company's in-house products. The R & D center is expected to be operational by the end of the first quarter of 2006.
"By developing a fast, responsive generics business and investing in niche markets, Pliva will be among the most competitive companies on the global generics market. The combination of a robust generic pipeline, focus on operational excellence and increased vertical integration will position Pliva to deliver strong organic growth while we further enhance profitability," according to Zeljko Covic, president and CEO, Pliva.
Pliva has operations in more than 30 countries and is the leading company in its class based in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). With over 380 patents in its possession, Pliva is widely recognized for its R&D excellence - and most notably for the discovery of its blockbuster, a new generation antibiotic azithromycin.
Building upon its proud R&D history, the company specializes in the discovery, development, production and distribution of generic and niche pharmaceutical products. Since its listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1996, Pliva has established a fully internationalized business, with the majority of revenues now realized on Western markets.
Currently Pliva's research and development activities are organized and focused on the development of generics, biologicals and niche products. Pliva has strong research and development capabilities with the most promising generics pipeline in CEE. Over the last year, Pliva has restructured its R&D operations to fully take advantage of and integrate each of its research and excellence centres, dedicated to supporting these lines of businesses and leveraging its scientific expertise to the company's maximum advantage.
It may also be noted, Pliva signed an agreement with Dr Reddy's Laboratories in November, 2003 covering development and marketing for eleven oncology products. Under the agreement, Dr Reddy's will develop the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and prepare the drug master file (DMF), while Pliva will be responsible for developing the formulations and preparing the dossier for filing marketing authorization (MA) applications. By the same contract, Pliva has been granted exclusive marketing rights for eleven Central and East European (CEE) countries, semi-exclusive rights for the rest of CEE countries and Western Europe and non-exclusive rights for the US.