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Sun Pharma to commission Jammu plant in March 2004
C H Unnikrishnan, Mumbai | Friday, July 18, 2003, 08:00 Hrs  [IST]

Pharmaceutical major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is planning to commission its fifth formulation facility in the country, which is coming up at Jammu, by March 2004. The Rs 25 crore formulation plant with multiple production lines for tablets and capsules would mainly cater to domestic market requirements. The company has at present four formulation plants and four bulk drug plants in operation in the country.

The company, which commissioned its fourth formulation production facility at Dadra in 2002, has its other plants at Vapi, and Silvassa. The company spokesperson informed Pharmabiz.com that the decision to set up finished product plant at Jammu is mainly the logistic advantages to cater to the Northern markets and also the industry incentives offered by state government.

The company spokesperson informed that there is an increased domestic market requirement as far as the formulation products are concerned. In order to meet this growing demand within the country and also the expanding export markets, the company is still looking for capacity expansion.

The Rs.800 crore Sun Pharmaceuticals is currently the fifth largest Indian pharmaceutical company. The company has a very active presence in the bulk drug market as well. The API manufacturing plants of the company are currently located at Ahmednagar, Panoli, Ankaleshwar and Chennai. The US FDA approved Ahmednagar plant has received ISO 9002 and ISO 14001 certifications in 2002. While the Panoli and Ahmednagar plants are used for regulated markets the other two plants are catering to domestic and traditional markets.

The company, which has recently expanded its R&D infrastructure with thrust on basic research, had set up a second research center in 1997 in Mumbai to develop innovative dosage forms and generics for the developed markets in US and Europe. This center has helped the company's US subsidiary Caraco Pharma successfully file 10 ANDAs so far, of which 5 approvals have been received. This lab is working with tight timeframes to support Caraco's new product pipeline.

The company sources said that another research campus is also being built in Baroda to work entirely on innovation based projects. In the first phase, a drug discovery initiative is taking shape in 3 specific therapy areas. "We have committed a Rs.40 core investment towards projects in new chemical entities and novel drug delivery systems," she added.

The official said that during 2002-03 the company's R&D expenditure rose to Rs.29. 4 crore, which is about 3.4 per cent of the of sales, from Rs.19.7 crore in the previous year. "The R&D expenditure would further rise in the next 2-3 years, mainly due to higher international filings, increased focus on NCE research and commissioning of the two R&D centers," the company sources said.

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