Hyderabad-based Divi's Laboratories is all set to cash in on the lucrative overseas carotenoid market in the coming months. The company will be exporting its carotenoids to numerous neutraceutical, pharmaceutical, healthcare and food industries in US and Europe.

The openness of the market with only Roche and BASF manufacturing in the world makes the market lucrative, said Murli Divi, the chairman and managing director of the company. Speaking to Pharmabiz.com, he said, the total carotenoids market in the world ranges between 200-300 tonnes.

“We will begin with the exports of Beta-carotene, Lykopene, and Canthaxanthine. We are also eyeing the domestic market, which is equally good. Domestically, we will be only manufacturer of carotenoids,” he said. It is on account of the tedious nature of the manufacturing process and the sophisticated employed, Indian companies prefer to import the product, giving us the first mover advantage, he added. “We will be targeting the neutraceutical, pharmaceutical, healthcare and food industries of the country,” he said.

Carotenoids are essentially used as anti-oxidants, which will make the body free of the free radicals that are responsible for diseases like cancer, premature aging, and heart diseases.

The overseas prices of carotenoids range between $1,000-1,500 per kg. In India, the companies import carotenoids at Rs.15,000 to Rs.50,000 per kg. According to a Mumbai–based pharma analyst, Divi's will be initially looking for an annual production of about 2-3 tonnes of carotenoids. “Divi's will price its products competitively to efficiently tap both the national as well as the international markets,” said the analyst.

Though carotenoids could be manufactured after extraction of carotenes from carrots, tomatoes, and algae, the process is tedious and the yield is also insignificant. “Chemical synthesis from petrochemicals is the ideal way to manufacture carotenoids, with a better yield,” said Divi. The entire range of carotenoids will be manufactured at the company's Vizag plant.

Divi's Labs has obtained ISO-9001, ISO-14001 and OHSAS-18001 certifications for its manufacturing, operations, quality systems, environment management systems and occupational safety and health procedures. The plant has also got GMP approvals from the US FDA and European authorities.