Torrent plans 100% Aussie, Mexican arms

$100mn investment earmarked for setting up the overseas arms and for tapping European markets.

The Rs 540-crore Torrent Pharmaceuticals is planning to open its wholly owned subsidiaries in Australia and Mexico to expand its operations in overseas markets.

The company is learnt to have earmarked an investment of about $100 million to set up these subsidiaries and for tapping other mature markets in Europe this year.

The company sources said the Australian subsidiary is expected to be operational by July this year. The company is in the process of finalising a location and a core management team.

"Though the final operation model of the subsidiary is yet to be worked out, the Australian company may not have its own marketing team in place. So it is likely to tie up with a local marketing and distribution company there," the sources said.

The Mexican subsidiary is expected to be operational by first half of this financial year.

"Both these subsidiaries would source the products from the Indian company, which has manufacturing plants conforming to the regulatory norms of Australia and Mexico," the sources added.

Torrent Pharma, which is also exploring the possibilities of a large scale acquisition in Europe, is currently in the process of identifying few medium scale manufacturing and marketing companies.

"We are seriously looking at potential targets in Europe for acquisition as the inorganic growth in this market is top on our agenda now, " said a senior company executive.

Torrent has filed four new abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) and three drug master files (DMFs) with the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) as part of its plan to launch them in the US market.

The new ANDAs include metformin instant release, sertraline, zolpidem and citalopram. The combined market for these drugs in the US market is estimated to be $ 7.5 billion.

By launching these four products in the US, Torrent is targeting $ 5-6 million from each of the ANDA candidates during the first year of their respective launches.

The company has also filed 3 DMFs for sertraline, venlaflaxin and ropinorole in the active pharma ingredient (bulk drug) segment.