The Pune-based Venkateswara Hatcheries Group (VH Group) is entering into fully integrated human biopharma manufacturing segment by floating a new company, Uttara Biosciences. The group, which is a major player in research and manufacturing of poultry and veterinary products, will commence commercial operations of Uttara Biosciences in August 2008.
Uttara Biosciences, the greenfield venture of the group will cover the entire gamut of biopharmaceutical activities both in the preventive and high-end therapeutic segments. The company, through its oncology division - Fleuron - will initiate operations by launching 10 oncology products in the first year, according to a company announcement.
B Venkatesh Rao, MD, Uttara Biosciences said, "Uttara Biosciences is committed to scaling new heights and creating new dimensions in the biopharmaceutical value chain by supporting people around the world to live better and live longer." The company will be focused primarily in the super specialty segments and the first strategic business unit will be Fleuron.
"For our oncology division Fleuron, we have planned to have a robust yet synergistic product mix in our product portfolio which should contain selective products for chemotherapy, targeted therapy, supportive therapy and palliative therapy, thus aiming to cater to all-round needs of cancer care. The division's mission will be to acquire society's trust as an oncology partner by providing innovative treatment and comprehensive support to all those fighting cancer," said Arnab Banerjee, head, sales and marketing, Uttara Biosciences.
Initially, the company will rely on contract manufacturing firms in the country for manufacturing of its products, even as a new manufacturing facility is under construction in Pune for drug production. The company has earmarked Rs100 crore investments for setting up the manufacturing plant and brand building for first five to six years. The manufacturing plant will be set up in a phased manner and the filler lines for bulk vaccines, imported from Korea and Brazil will be installed in the first phase, he added.
In the initial year of operation, the company will launch products for treatment of breast cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer, brain tumour, pancreatic cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, cancer of the hypopharynx and blood cancers. The products will be commercialized under their registered brand names on a pan-Indian scale. The company is already in the process of registering their products in some selective overseas markets.
"The oncology market in India is estimated at Rs 800 crore and is growing at the rate of 30 percent annually. However, the market is dominated by 7 to 8 players who have been in the field for over 10 to 15 years and collectively contribute to 70-75 percent of the present oncology market with an average gross turnover of around Rs 70 crore. As a new entrant, the first couple of years will be quite challenging for us with the market being hugely cluttered with continuous downward pressure on prices. However, with our excellent product mix and positioning strategies, we are confident of garnering a significant market share in the next 5 years. We are poised to carving out the best strategic alliances with several overseas companies towards technology transfer, co-development, contract manufacturing, co-marketing, etc. in realizing the same in the shortest possible span," revealed Banerjee.