Orion Genomics India, the Indo-Israeli joint venture company is all set to control two-third position of the six tonnes per month (TPM) 16 Dehydro Pregnenolone Acetate (DPA) market in the country. Starting from March 2003, the company will be manufacturing four TPM of 16 DPA. It is estimated that more than 90 per cent of the 16 DPA market comes by way of imports from China. “Our aim is to capture the market from the clutches of the Chinese,” said Shrikant Parab, Managing Director, Orion Genomics India Pvt Ltd. OG is a 70:30 joint venture between a Israeli group and an Indian group.

16DPA is the steroid intermediate, used in the manufacture of drugs like progesterone, thenesteroid, testosterone, hydrocortisone, betamethosone, beclamethasone, pretnisolone, and androstalone. It is manufactured from Diosgenin, which is extracted from the roots of Dioscorea plant. The root can only be grown in mountainous regions. Besides, the plant can be extracted only once after every two years. On account of these discrepancies, most of the Indian pharmaceutical companies prefer importing 16DPA from abroad, especially China. Orion Genomics has appointed Omex International as its marketing strategists.

This lack of competition at home has encouraged Orion to take advantage of the situation and straightaway go for a four TPM production of 16 DPA. It has already started diascorea cultivation in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Nepal and Bhutan.

Orion, after its unofficial launch in August 2002, has been able to manufacture about one TPM of the product so far. In order to manufacture four TPM of 16 DPA, Orion will require about 320 tonnes of diascorea root. “Till the next financial year, it is assured that Orion will be produce four TPM of 16 DPA,” said Shimon Tzenvirt, Chairman, Orion Genomics.

For high quality technology, Orion has tied up with Israel's Weizmann Institute. “We are constantly upgrading the technology for higher as well as high quality yield,” said Tzenvirt.

The company is manufacturing 16 DPA at its Amritsar and Kalyan (near Mumbai) plants.

It has already recruited about 700 employees on a permanent basis, many of whom will be involved in the planting and extraction activities of the company. Orion intends to invest about Rs 2 crores every month in its production activities, of which a major brunt will be bore by its Israeli partners.

Orion has priced its product at $ 135 per kg, which is higher compared to the Chinese price of $ 95 per kg. “We will be delivering a 99.99 per cent pure product through our advanced technology compared to the Chinese product purity of just 95 per cent. Therefore our higher pricing is thoroughly justified,” said Tzenvirt. The samples from Orion are under evaluation process in German Remedies and Schering. “Also companies like GSK, Infar and Wyeth are currently testing the quality of the company's product. We are quite bullish on striking a deal soon,” said Parab.

Orion is targeting a sales turnover of Rs 2.5 crores till March. “March onwards, we should be able to garner a sales turnover of Rs 2.4 crores every month,” said Parab.

Along with being a good provider of employment opportunities, the project is also rewarding for the respective state governments as they will now be able to earn income by way of royalty for availing the bare mountains for Dioscorea cultivation. “We are currently paying the Himachal Pradesh government a royalty of Rs 9 per root,” said Parab.