Intas Biotech to launch slew of products

Indus Biotherapeutics Ltd, the biotechnology foray of the Ahmedabad based Intas Pharmaceuticals, has chalked out plans to introduce of a range of biotech products.

Beginning next month, the company will launch neukine, the first recombinant DNA molecule to be launched by a company from Gujarat. It has already chalked out a plan to launch ten products with one launch in every six months.

This will be followed by the launch of erythropoietin, used for cancer and kidney disorders, and interferon, which has broad therapeutic applications in cancer and infectious diseases.

"While the market of neukine worldwide is about $3 billion, the market for the other two drugs is over $ 1 billion each," said Urmish Chudgar, director of Intas Pharmaceuticals.

The biotech foray made in May 2000 will take Intas Pharma from being a market-driven company to a knowledge-driven one, Chudgar said.

Five years from now, Intas will be India's number one biotechnology company, he said.

"Five years from now, we will be the undisputed leader among biotechnology companies in India," Chudgar said.

Intas has so far invested around Rs 40 crore in Indus Biotechnology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intas Pharmaceuticals. It has already begun exporting proteins to other countries.

Intas' biotechnology unit is spread over an area of six acres at Moraiya on Sarkhej-Bavla highway on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The facilities consist of 8,000 square feet of research and development laboratories and a GMP-compliant bulk manufacturing plant covering 12,000 square feet.

The multi-product bulk manufacturing facility is fully operational and the facility is being used for production, fermentation, cell culture and downstream processing of recombinant DNA products.

Chudgar said Neukine, a granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) will be the first recombinant DNA molecule to be launched by a Gujarat company.

Chudgar said with several molecules going off patent soon, the global bio-generics market will offer the company huge opportunities.

"In fact, the real test for our firm will be competing with Korean and Chines companies that are aggressively making forays into biotechnology research and development," the director said.

He said over a period of time, the prices of biotech products are bound to fall.