Panacea to set up Rs 35 cr unit in Himachal

Delhi-based Panacea Biotec Ltd is commissioning its second plant in Baddi in Himachal Pradesh that will produce US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs for the regulated markets. The Rs 35-crore project is expected to be commissioned in June 2005.

The company currently exports 7"�8 per cent of its Rs 285-crore turnover to non-regulated markets in South-East Asia, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Panacea has also recently inked a strategic deal with UK-based Cambridge Biostability Ltd to produce vaccines that will be stable under non-refrigerated condition.

Joint Managing Director Rajesh Jain said, "By making vaccines stable across a range of temperatures, the new technology removes the need for the cold chain, which currently costs $200 million a year. It also gives vaccines a long shelf life, which will save $100 million in wasted vaccines each year."

Jain said the government of India spent around Rs 1,000 crore every year on various immunisation programmes across the country. Despite such a large budget, critical vaccines like the one for hepatitis B, Hib and tetanus toxoid do not reach interior parts of the country for want of proper cold storage chains.

"The 'thermo stable' vaccines open up huge opportunities in developed countries like India," Jain said.

The arrangement with Cambridge Biostability will allow Panacea to produce and market drugs for critical markets across the world. With this new arrangement, along with the USFDA-approved plant in Baddi, the company proposes to increase its export income substantially.

While the thermo-stable vaccines will be released in the market over the next 12 to 24 months, the Baddi plant will commence commercial production by June 2005.

Panacea had reported a topline of Rs 285 crore for 2004-05. "An estimated 55 per cent of our revenues come from vaccines, while the balance from other pharmaceutical products," Jain said.

Panacea also holds the patent for 10 other drugs like those for gastro-intestinal disease, TB management, and anti-bacterial and other pain management drugs.