Kopran Ltd has received a major boost in its international operations with the approval of registration for its brand Bren-400 (ibuprofen tablets) by the Medicines Control Council (MCC) of South Africa.

The company informed that it has five more products in the registration pipeline for which it expects an approval from the MCC and aims to be in advanced stage of filing 10 more products for registration within the next three months.

Kopran expects a revenue of $5 million from its South Africa operation by 2006-07 and to grow it to $10 million by 2008. It is also planning to have its own subsidiary shortly in South Africa.

Following the approval for its products currently in the pipeline, Kopran expects to expand its presence in that country. Kopran has already forged a strategic alliance with Be-Tabs, a leading generic pharma company in South Africa, to strengthen its presence in that country. The nature of alliance is a long term agreement for brand distribution and contract manufacturing in that country.

The South African pharmaceutical market is estimated at $1 billion, out of which the generic formulations market is estimated at around $250 million. It is growing at 15 per cent annually. A highly regulated market, the usual registration time taken by MCC for registration in South Africa is around twos years.
In addition to South Africa, Kenya, Sudan, Malawi, Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia are the other African countries where Kopran currently has a presence. It also has a joint venture present in another African country, Uganda.