Mankind Pharma, a pharmaceutical company with a presence in range of areas including antibiotics, anti-fungals and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, is setting up a facility to make general active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and steroids.
Arjun Juneja, Director – Operations, Mankind Pharma said the facility, coming up at Sotanala near Jaipur would make generic drugs for formulations made by Mankind Pharma. “We are investing around Rs.100 crore in the facility which will come up in 2015-16. It is basically a backward integration project largely for captive consumption and will have a capacity of 200 tonnes per annum.”
The facility would focus on enabling the company to make cheaper drugs. The API facility is a step to promote affordable drug manufacturing in India where a third of the population has no access to medicines, Mr. Juneja said.
The Rs.3,500 crore company plans to focus on exports, which are currently at around Rs.50 crore. They are mainly exported to countries in South East Asia, Africa and CIS countries. “Our investments henceforth will be export-focused. We are keen on entering the developed markets and are open to the acquisition of a brand or company there,” Mr. Juneja said.
