Morepen Laboratories is the latest to join the list of companies gearing up to meet the demand for ciprofloxacin. The company has decided to double its production of the drug following the anthrax scare in the US and the rest of the world.
The drug, used for treating anthrax, is known to have gone out of stock in the US. Morepen produces the drug in bulk form and sells it in India as well as in non-regulated markets abroad.
It produces 10-15 tonne of ciprofloxacin per month. According to company executives, production will now touch the full capacity of 25 tonne. Morepen is among the top five producers of ciprofloxacin in the country. Its facility to manufacture the drug in Himachal Pradesh has received the US Food and Drug Administration's approval.
Chairman and managing director Sushil Suri said: "We are geared for large supplies of the anti-anthrax drug to the US or any other country." In the US, senator Larry Pressler, advisor to the Morepen board and the head of Morepen's operations in that country, is keeping a close watch on the situation there, a company release said.
"In case the US government directs the innovator to grant compulsory licences to approved generic companies, Morepen would be ready with inventories for immediate shipments, that too at a price which is much lower than the ruling price in regulated markets," Suri said. Bayer AG holds the patent in the US for ciprofloxacin. It has already announced that it will step up production to meet the increased demand.
Earlier, Ranbaxy Laboratories had announced that it was raising its ciprofloxacin inventory by 20-25 per cent to meet additional demand for the drug. The company has also said it is ready to supply the drug to the US.
Meanwhile, Morepen announced that it has applied to the Drug Controller General of India to manufacture and market levofloxacin, another drug from the same category which may be used for the treatment of anthrax. "Levofloxacin is a fast growing anti-bacterial agent having a market size of $1 billion and has a growth rate of 40 per cent. It is the latest molecule in the category of fluoroquinolones, which is superior, more potent and effective than ciprofloxacin," the statement said.
