The Hindu Business Line : Indoco exports to grow on better product profile, expanded coverage

Mumbai, Sept. 5 It was in 2003 that Indoco Remedies received regulatory approval to sell painkiller drug paracetamol in the UK, its first ever in a regulated market.

Now, five years down the line, the Rs 400-crore drug-maker is looking to expand the geography it covers, as it moves up the value chain in terms of the profile of products it exports.

In another three years, exports will contribute about 50 per cent of the company’s revenues, says Ms Aditi Kare Panandikar, Indoco’s Director for Business Development, who is the third generation of the company’s promoter-family. Promoters hold 60 per cent equity in the company.

Earlier, exports were largely on the back of contract manufacturing that the company did for other international companies.

But Indoco is now in the process of filing its own dossiers in different markets. This will allow Indoco to market its own generic products in international markets, once regulatory approval is got, she explains. Subsequently, Indoco will look to collaborate with marketing companies overseas to sell its products, she adds.

Besides Europe, Indoco supplies to Government programmes in New Zealand and Australia. And recently, Indoco’s Goa facility got re-approved by the German regulatory authorities allowing it to tap Europe’s second largest market — Germany, which is a $49 billion market. The company is also exploring opportunities in China and Japan, she said.

Revamp

The domestic market, at present contributing a lion’s share to Indoco’s revenues, is set to see a revamp, Ms Panandikar said. The company is looking at strategies to sustain its robust growth in the rural markets, even as it puts its might into tapping urban markets, she said. Speciality products will be a focus area, she added. About 12 per cent of Indoco’s products are under the purview of the Centre’s Drug Price Control Order.

Research

Indoco’s research is focused on two fronts, where it supports the active pharmaceutical ingredients business, by working on the “building blocks” to new chemical entities that multinational drug companies are developing. On the generics side, Indoco works on developing non-infringing processes on generic medicines that are chemically similar to an innovative drug, she said. Indoco has its research centre at Navi Mumbai, with over 100 scientists.

Indoco Remedies shares were marginally up on the BSE, at Rs 262, on Friday.

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