The Rs 67-crore Bal Pharma, a medium-sized pharma enterprise in Karnataka, plans to consolidate its presence in the global market. However, the company will continue to launch new products in 32 countries it is already exporting. The company is gearing up for two international audits of its formulation and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) facilities: Unit I and Unit II at the Bommasandra industrial area in the outskirts of Bangalore.
"In the next five months all efforts will be on to file applications and request the regulatory authorities of MCC South Africa and TGA Australia for inspections. The company is also developing documentation procedures for new markets in the coming years," stated Ramandeep Singh Bagga, head, international business, Formulation and Bulk Actives,
Bal Pharma, which generated Rs. 18 crore export earnings in March 2005, is confident to generate Rs. 25 crore by March 2006. The increase in sales is being attributed mainly from the war stricken areas of Iraq and Afghanistan where a whole range of antibiotics, painkillers including Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), OTC products, IV fluids and ophthalmics are in demand.
The company's international presence spans over Asia, Africa and Latin America. Entry into Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Somalia and Mozambique are on the anvil. It has a full-fledged export documentation, registration and marketing department operating from Bangalore and through its associates in Dubai. Besides direct exports, the company also supplies products from reputed manufacturers to Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Hungary, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE and UK.
In the bulk drug category, exports include Gliclazide an anti diabetic and Ebastine an anti histamine Topiramate for epilepsy, Amiloride a diuretic, Benzydamine anti pyretic, Entacapone and Traneximic. In fact, Bal Pharma is the first Indian company to indigenously manufacture bulk drugs Gliclazide is a leading anti-diabetic in the country and Bal Pharma continues to be the sole manufacturer. For Gliclazide, the company has a 'Certificate of Suitability' from Europe, which allows marketing rights in Europe and United Kingdom.
In Pakistan, Bal Pharma has no direct presence and is represented by agents. It is examining the feasibility of setting up a marketing network in Sri Lanka where it has 40 product registrations and its highest in the South Asian markets. The company has also chalked out plans to enter Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and is scouting for trade agents and marketing tie-ups in the region for its range of formulations and bulk drugs. It intends to begin exports to select countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine and extend the territories after assessing the response.