The Ozone Group, an established player in the pharma and consumer healthcare sector is investing Rs 20 crore for an R&D Centre at Sonari, Nagaon district, Assam. The funds are being raised through internal accruals.
The facility will be known as Ozone R&D. It will focus on new product and process development of allopathic and ayurveda drugs. After the research initiatives are complete for the in-house requirements, Ozone intends to target the global R&D outsourcing market, through its subsidiary operations in UK.
The R&D Centre is a part of the backward integration plans, wherein the group will undertake organic cultivation of natural herbs and medicinal plants using modern technology. Around 45 acres of land has already been acquired by the Group Already 13 acres are under cultivation at Gurgaon, Haryana. Plans are afoot to expand the cultivation area to 100 acres in Assam, stated S.C. Sehgal, chairman, Ozone Group.
The biggest bottleneck in development of natural products is the availability of genuine, unadulterated herbs and medicinal extracts. "Therefore, we have decided to undertake organic cultivation of herbs and medicinal plants to meet our exacting quality standards. While we would use the produce from our farmlands primarily for our products, the surplus would be sold off in the open market or exported," he added.
The New Delhi-based Rs 112 crore Ozone Group has two companies under its umbrella employing over 1,700 people. Ozone Pharmaceuticals is a formulation manufacturing and marketing company with focus on therapeutic groups like antibiotics, antifungal, nutritional, infectives, anxiolytics and NSAIDs. It also has range in cardiac and diabetic formulations. The largest selling brands are Axbex a multivitamin, Dyrect a pain reliever, and Ozovas for cardiac problems.
Ozone Ayurvedics, is a privately held consumer healthcare business known for its brand 'No-Marks' in the anti-marks skincare segment introduced for the first time in the country. Other leading products are 'IT IS' eye drops and KWIK- a pain reliever. Besides there is also a range of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs for skin and body care. The Group exports to Middle East, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, London, New Zealand and West Indies. It has two offices at UK and Dubai.