Nicholas plans addl investment at Chennai

NPIL Pharma, the custom manufacturing business of Nicholas Piramal India, is planning an additional investment of $4 million to upgrade its early phase drug development plant at its Ennore plant in Tamil Nadu to meet the existing demand.

The company has lined up a package of four projects which includes commissioning of a new process safety lab, upgradation of existing pilot plant, adding new eight reactors with 12,000 litres capacity to the pilot plant and setting up of a new analytical laboratory, said NPIL Pharma sources.

'This investment expands our early phase pilot plant and science
capabilities in India. With more potential for further development, the Chennai plant will be a key compliment to our European early phase facilities in Morepath and Huddersfield, UK and at our site in Ontario, Canada' said Veronica Scherrer-Pangka, president, NPIL Pharma's Pharma Development and Scale Up (PDS) business unit.

NPIL Pharma, one among the top ten pharmaceutical contract manufacturing firms in the world with revenues of about $250 million, has over 200 scientists employed at Chennai, Canada and at Morepath, UK, which NPIL acquired about two years ago.