Chennai-based Bafna Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which acquired haematinic drug Raricap from Johnson & Johnson-affiliate NR Jet recently, is planning to strengthen its presence in the segment.
The company is in the process of acquiring around 14 haematinic drugs, used to increase haemoglobin levels in blood, with an investment of around Rs 25 crore, said Mahaveer Chand Bafna, chairman and managing director, Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited.
It is targeting a turnover of Rs 100 crore from the segment in the next three years. The haematinics market in India is currently around Rs 900 crore and growing at 15 per cent, he said quoting ORG-IMS data.
“We have initiated talks with a few Indian pharma companies to acquire their haematinic brands. We will have a basket of 15 products in the segment in the next six months, as first phase, with an investment of Rs 20-25 crore,” said Bafna. The investment would be from equity from strategic partners and debt, he added.
The company completed acquisition of Raricap, prescribed for iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy, on April 4, 2011, at a cost of around Rs 25 crore. Raricap has market worth Rs 10 crore and the company expects its sales to contribute Rs 50 crore to the total Rs 100 crore turnover targeted in the next three years.
Towards this, Bafna Pharma is recruiting 250 medical representatives to market the drug and has plans to invest around Rs 2 crore every month in marketing. "With a legacy of over 40 years, Raricap would be a major product for us in the segment. The other products we are looking at would not be in the range of Raricap buy,”he said.
Bafna has been manufacturing Raricap on contract for J&J for around two years. It discontinued the manufacturing deal almost six months ago after the product underwent some formulation changes. J&J has not been promoting the drug for past few years, which affected its market performance.
According to the deal, Bafna would use J&J's distribution network to market the product. “We will use the readymade structure of distributors and carrying and forwarding (C&F) agencies network of J&J by paying them,” said Bafna. It is also planning to export the product to less regulated markets at a later stage.
The company, which has a turnover of close to Rs 100 crore at present, has around 23 products, mainly in the lifestyle disease segment, including cardiovascular and anti-diabetic therapeutic segments, marketed in the north eastern parts of the country. It is in the process of pan-India expansion that is likely to complete by this May.
The company has been focusing on exports market for the past several years and has recently turned focus on exporting drugs to regulated markets like the UK along with increasing presence in the domestic market, he added.
