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Venus bets on new combination drugs

P.T. Jyothi Datta

Mumbai , June 20

FOR a low-profile company from Chandigarh, Venus Remedies Ltd certainly seems to have caught the interest of industry-watchers.

The estimated Rs 34-crore company is looking to notch up sales of Rs 100 crore this year on the back of a pipeline of cancer and cephalosporin-combination products. And about 20 per cent of this projected sales will come from exports, said Mr Pawan Chaudhary, Venus' Managing Director.

Outlining the company's strategy, he said, Venus invested about 5 per cent of its sales in research. The company develops combination products, that is, a product that combines two or more proven drugs, as opposed to researching a new chemical entity.

Recently, Venus got clearance from the Drug Controller's office to conduct Phase III clinical trials on its new formulation, a fixed dose combination drug of the latest generation cephalosporin with an aminoglycoside. Phase III trials involve testing the drug on a sample size of 1,000 to 5,000 patients. The product targets life-threatening infections and is expected to be launched in December.

Venus has tie-ups with companies to market the product in India and expects to clock revenues of about Rs 20 crore from this product in its first year. It expects to market the product abroad through alliances with multinational companies, he said.

The company has also embarked on expanding its manufacturing capacity and is setting up a Rs 50-crore dedicated injectibles facility at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. The project would be financed through internal accruals and bank loans, he said, ruling out the option of tapping the market. Promoters hold 30 per cent stake in the company. The company has a plant at Panchkula, a satellite town near Chandigarh.

This year, Venus launched Ronem, touted to be a latest generation carbapenem injection for broad spectrum use in critical care in segments such as neuro-surgery, kidney transplantation and bypass surgery.

This year, the company has also launched an anti-cancer formulation Oxaliplatin.

The company has marketing agreements in the domestic market with companies such as Ipca, Elder Pharma, Themis and Shreya Lifesciences.

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