Actavis expands Lotus Labs' facilities in B'lore

The Iceland-headquartered Actavis Group announced the opening of the new premises of its subsidiary Lotus Labs in Bangalore recently.

Actavis is the 5th largest generic drug-maker in the world in terms of revenue and the third largest on the number of employees.

The new premises of Lotus Labs will house offices, laboratories and facilities for clinical bio-equivalence studies. About 200-300 people will work at the plant, which covers about 3,000 square metre. The facility represents a step in the development of Actavis' operations in India.

Iceland's minister of education, culture and science Borgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir opened the premises in the presence of Iceland's newly-appointed Ambassador to India Sturla Sigurjonsson and a trade delegation from Iceland which is on a visit to India.

Stefan Jokull Sveinsson, chief executive of Actavis' R&D, said, "Actavis' success has been built on strong local roots. The expansion of the company's activities in India is in line with our on-going strategy of drawing on the skill base and expertise in the region and extending our reach to drive future growth. Actavis plans to expand further by opening a centre for stability studies that will provide additional support for the group's operations in Europe and the USA. The company plans to use Lotus Labs' old premises for activities like developing active pharmaceutical ingredients (API)."