Chief Minister of Telangana, K.Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) laid the foundation stone for Shanta Biotechnic’s Rs.460 crore insulin manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.

The upcoming new production facility will manufacture ‘Insuman’ a leading Human Insulin product from Sanofi’s range of diabetes treatments. Sanofi will make an investment of Rs.460 crore in this insulin facility.

Located in Muppireddipalli (Telangana), the facility will be equipped with the latest technology to produce Insuman. This will be Sanofi’s second plant aside from the company’s existing Insuman manufacturing plant in Frankfurt. The construction of the 13,400 square-meter building will begin immediately, with the site fully operational by 2019.

CM KCR welcomed the company’s commitment towards health, technology transfer and job creation in Telangana State. Speaking on the occasion, KCR says, “Sanofi’s decision to set up a plant to manufacture insulin in Telangana state will help 65 million diabetics in India to have better access to affordable insulin. We are shortly going to launch a new Industrial policy that will fast track projects and make Telangana one of the most favoured destinations, for investments, in the world.”

Describing the significance of this project, Dr. Harish Iyer, CEO, Shantha Biotechnics says, “With this facility, for the first time, we will be able to manufacture insulin in cartridges here. The new high technology facility will benefit from our existing biotechnology production expertise. This state-of-the-art facility will have the capability to ramp up manufacturing volumes to 60 million Insuman cartridges per year, within two to three years of commercial manufacturing.”

Dr. Shailesh Ayyangar, managing director India and vice President South Asia, Sanofi says “Sanofi is a front runner in its endeavor of addressing the growing epidemic of diabetes in India. Furthermore, the technology transfer and a successful collaborative effort within the Sanofi Group, underline our commitment to investing and ‘making in India’.”

Post completion, the facility will operate with High Performance Work Systems, which drive production efficiencies and save energy. The facility is expected to meet local and international demand.