Bipha Drug Laboratories, one of the oldest pharmaceutical and ayurvedic drug manufacturer in Kerala, will foray into Tamilnadu by January 2007 and is planning to expand its operations to Andhra Pradesh by June 2007.

Bipha has already recruited 15 people and are in the process of forming a strong marketing team. Bipha will launch 41 products initially and by the coming financial year another 40 will be introduced in the Tamilnadu market. According to Ajay George Varghese, director, Bipha Drug Laboratories, the company expects a turnover of approximately Rs One crore in the first year of operations from these two states.

"We had done a marketing study in Tamilnadu for six months and the response here for the ayurvedic preparations, especially kashayam tablets which is our strong base, is very good. So we decided to enter full-fledged into this market. Moreover our production unit is well equipped now and hence we thought of expanding ourselves outside Kerala too, " said Ajay.

Speaking about the expansion of their manufacturing unit, Ajay said that the production facilities are being upgraded in accordance to the WHO GMP norms. Besides, the R&D facility will also undergo modernisation. The total investment into this would be around Rs 3 crore.

"We will be purchasing more machinery to step up production. We are also planning to bring out classical products. Initially we will be launching 10 products before March 2007 and then will launch more classical medicine," he said. Speaking about the decision to bring out classical products, Ajay said that Bipha was already strong in patented drug market and hence wanted to step up production in the classical side too.

Revealing the company's export plans to South East Asia, Ajay said that they were in the process of registering 13 products out of which application for six had already been submitted and the rest was under process.