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Chennai-based Orchid Pharma, which manufactures and exports active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished dosage forms, is looking to enter the consumer business, according to a senior company official.
“In the long term, we do wish to be in the consumer market. We want to have a business-to-consumer (B2C) segment in Orchid Pharma. So you will see some announcements with respect to that,” a top official said during the company’s Q1 earnings call.
Set up in 1992 as an export-oriented unit, Orchid Pharma is a vertically integrated company spanning the entire pharmaceutical value chain from research to manufacturing, marketing and exports. The company manufactures formulations and APIs across segments like anti-infectives, anti-inflammatory, central nervous system, cardiovascular segment, and nutraceuticals in both oral and sterile forms.
The company has facilities in Alathur (Tamil Nadu) for the manufacture of oral formulations for nutraceutical and anti-diabetics categories for domestic and emerging markets. It also has a manufacturing plant for APIs of cephalosporin (antibiotics), which is exported to regulated markets like the US and Europe.
Elaborating on the B2C plans, the company official said, “We are developing some ANDAs [abbreviated new drug applications] in which we are tying up with large companies that would like to market in the US. So we are working towards both regulated markets and opportunities in domestic as well.”
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ANDAs are submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the review and potential approval of a generic drug product.
Turnaround story
In April 2020, Gurgaon-based Dhanuka Laboratories took over debt-ridden Orchid Pharma under corporate insolvency resolution process for ₹1,116 crore. The company’s fortunes have since turned around. After several quarters of losses, the company turned profitable in Q3FY23 and has been maintaining the profit momentum.
In Q1FY23, Orchid Pharma posted a profit of ₹11 crore as against a net loss of ₹14 crore for the same quarter of the previous year. Revenue from operations jumped 40 per cent during this period to ₹183 crore (₹131 crore).
In the first quarter earnings call, Manish Dhanuka, MD, Orchid Pharma Ltd, said the robust growth showed that initiatives taken in the last few years were in the right direction.
“Our EBITDA for the same period increased to ₹24 crore, 56 per cent increase over the same period last financial year. This growth underscores our commitment to operational efficiencies and the strategic financial management that we have brought in,” he added.
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