In an effort “to not have all its eggs in one basket”, Parabolic Drugs is readying its basket of products that are not antibiotics, the first of which is to be rolled out in a couple of months.

A maker of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), the estimated Rs 650-crore company has set up a greenfield capacity in Punjab dedicated to make products that are not antibiotics, Mr Vineet Gupta, a founder-director of Parabolic Drugs, told Business Line . At present, over 90 per cent of the company's turnover is from antibiotics, he said.

The plant, scheduled to be operationalised in a couple of months, would make APIs for segments including diabetes, hypertension, women's health, osteoporosis, dermatology etc.

To start with, there are about four products, and it would take about three years for an expanded basket of non-antibiotic products, he added. The company expects to end March 2012 at about Rs 800 crore, he said.

This year, the company also launched its Nucleus Generics division, looking at making finished forms of medicines. Being a late-starter in the mentioned therapeutic segments is a worry, Mr Gupta said, responding to a query.

But there are opportunities, he indicates, given the robust growth in the domestic market, and other overseas markets including Brazil, Russia, China, Mexico and Turkey.

Risk appetite

In the antibiotics space, the company recently got regulatory approvals in Japan for Cefpodoxime proxitel, a third generation cephalosporin antibiotic.

Customer validations are underway, he said, adding that they expect to commence supplies in about nine months.

Parabolic was started in 1996 by Mr Vineet and his older brother Mr Pranav Gupta. Both engineers working in the packaging industry, ventured into the pharmaceutical industry as first generation entrepreneurs.

“It was a decision fraught with risk,” he says, but at 26-27 years, there was the appetite to take on risk, he added. Promoters, at present, hold about 40 per cent in the company.

Mid-last year, the company tapped the capital market to raise Rs 200 crore, of which about Rs 80 crore went towards the new plant making non-antibiotic products.

The company clocked sales of Rs 215 crore for the three months ended September 30, 2011, up about 33 per cent over sales in the corresponding period in the previous year.

Its net profit for the quarter under review stood flat at Rs 14.38 crore, compared with Rs 14.29 crore in Q2 FY11.

>jyothi@thehindu.co.in

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