Hikal Ltd., the preferred long-term outsourcing partner for leading global life sciences companies, has signed a mutually exclusive long-term agreement with Alpharma Inc.; US based global specialty pharmaceutical company to manufacture and supply an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) for the veterinary sector. Hikal will be manufacturing the API at its US FDA approved plant at Jigani, Bangalore. The total value of the contract is estimated to be approximately Rs.200crore.

Commenting on the development, Jai Hiremath, vice chairman and managing director, Hikal Ltd said, "We are glad to announce our long term alliance with Alpharma to manufacture a product that is well established in the market and has tremendous growth potential due to better cost competitiveness. This is in line with our strategic initiative of becoming a significant player in the CRAMS (Contract Research and Manufacturing Services) business.

He further mentioned, "Given our strength in research and development (R&D) and project implementation, we have carved a niche for ourselves in the CRAMS space. I am glad that our thrust in the pharma sector is paying dividends. This alliance will have a significant bearing on our financial performance and create value for our stakeholders. We are also working towards signing several other contracts with leading global life sciences companies in the near future. "

To further accelerate growth, Hikal is expanding its R&D and production capacities which will be on stream by the end of this year. Some of the key factors for leading global life sciences companies to partner with Hikal for their outsourcing requirements are its excellent capability in R&D, technology absorption, project implementation and EHS standards.