The Hyderabad-based Sipra Labs, an upcoming CRO in the country, has planned to set up a new research and development centre estimated at Rs 15 crore at Miyapur in Hyderabad. Majority of funds would be contributed through internal accruals and debt option will also be looked at, if needed. The company has acquired 5 acres of land for this purpose and may go for additional 5 acres as the requirements demand. And the centre is expected to be commissioned by fourth quarter of 2005, Dr V Satyanarayana, managing director of Sipra told Pharmabiz.

The R&D centre will take up various activities including Bio-Equivalence studies, generics and formulations development. The company will apply for USFDA approval, which is expected to achieve by mid 2006.

Sipra today serves about 700 Indian pharma companies and 15 overseas pharma players. The company's clients include Johnson & Johnson, Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's, Astra-Zeneca, Wyeth Lederle, Nicholas Piramal, Aurobindo Pharma, Cadila, Lupin, Sun Pharma and The Himalaya Drug etc. Overseas clients include Pliva (Croatia), Euro Drugs (Holland) and Ratio Pharma (Germany).

The company is poised to register 100 per cent growth by 2007. "The year 2005 will bring a bundle of opportunities at the door steps of Sipra and we are all set to reap the benefits," he added.

Sipra Labs is a government approved and ISO-9002 Certified Pharmaceutical / Analytical laboratory set up for providing specialised services for Bio-Availability, Bio-Equivalence, Stability and method development studies in addition to providing services for research and development of Drugs, Pharmaceuticals and Drug Intermediates. And Impurity profile estimation, Study of Drug release patterns and Environmental Impact Assessment studies are the other major thrust areas of the company, he claimed.

It is set to become a leading player in providing technical services of international quality to the drugs and pharmaceutical industry. It is equipped with state-of- the-art technology associated with the qualified scientists and pharmacists to conduct various studies under one roof with strict compliance of GLP and ISO guidelines.

The company was the first in South India to get the approval of DCGI for its bio-equivalence centre for conducting specialized studies of new drugs. It has a bed capacity of more than 50 for conducting clinical studies along with an experienced team of doctors and phlebotomists. In addition, all the tests are conducted in-house in accordance with NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) guidelines.