Vol. 4, No. 1
January, 2000
| Number | Subject |
| 040101 | Lupin Setting Up R&D Centre at Pune |
| 040102 | Ranbaxy Receives USFDA Approval to Market Ranitidine Tabs |
| 040103 | East India Pharmaceuticals to Launch New Products |
| 040104 | Dabur Extending Spirulina Range |
| 040105 | NPPA Revises Pharmaceutical Prices of 32 Formulations |
| 040106 | Pharma Products and Agri-products Out of Patents Act |
| 040107 | Industry Minister Okays Pfizer's Wholly-owned Subsidiary |
| 040108 | Exim Bank to Buy Stake in Two Pharmaceutical Companies |
| 040109 | Monsanto's Merger with Pharmacia Upjohn |
| 040110 | Cheminor to Fully Own US Subsidiary, may Merge with Dr. Reddy's |
| 040111 | Max India to Enter Healthcare and Information Technology |
| 040112 | Wockhardt Bifurcating Pharma and Life Sciences Businesses |
| 040113 | Orchid to Buy Ajanta's Bulk Drug Unit at Waluj |
| 040114 | Core Healthcare in Debt Restructuring Exercise |
| 040115 | Ajanta Pharma Planning Initial Public Offering |
040101 Lupin Setting Up R&D Centre at Pune
Lupin Laboratories is putting up a research and development centre
at Pune at a cost of Rs 15 crore. The facility will come up on
a 35-acre site. It is not far from the National Chemical Laboratories
with which Lupin has plans for collaboration. The company plans
to take its R&D spending to 3.5-5 per cent of sales as against
three per cent at present. The new facility will not be a separate
entity but a part of the existing company. At present, the company
is working on three products in oral controlled release systems.
040102 Ranbaxy Receives USFDA Approval to Market Ranitidine Tabs
Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc., the US-based subsidiary of Ranbaxy
has received the US Food and Drug Administration's approval to
produce and market 75 mg ranitidine tablets there. Marketing will
commence from January 20. Ranitidine, an anti-ulcerant was first
patented by Glaxo. Ranbaxy will be represented by PL Developments
and Schein in marketing the product. Being a smaller dose, the
75-mg dosage can be administered to children.
040103 East India Pharmaceuticals to Launch New Products
Pursuant to its collaboration with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation,
East India Pharmaceutical Works will be launching a range of new
products. Its bio-technology-based research has resulted in the
production of a few new products which will hit the Indian market
this year. The company already has popular brands like entroquinol,
locula, calron, tonoferon etc. in the market.
040104 Dabur Extending Spirulina Range
Sanat Products, a subsidiary of Dabur is extending its Spirulina
range into syrups, cookies and candies. It is also planning to
launch a Vitamin C tablet around the Spirulina product. The company
claims that Spirulina is one of the richest health foods in the
world. It is derived, at present, from algae at the company's
plant in Tamil Nadu, and is available in the form of tablets and
capsules. The company aims at registering sales of Rs 10 crore
from exports this year.
040105 NPPA Revises Pharmaceutical Prices of 32 Formulations
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has revised prices
of 32 drug formulations as follows: Dettol's prices reduced by
0.3 per cent to 1.86 per cent, corticosteroid of Wyeth Lederle
was raised by 26.53 to 27.47 per cent due to rise in bulk drug
prices, Hoechst Marion's Pentoxyfylline prices was raised from
Rs 21.44 to Rs 27.10 for a pack of 10 tablets, Hoechst's Sofratile
antibiotic dressing has gone up by 11.13 per cent to Rs 14.28,
German Remedies' derriphyllin was raised by 2.26 to 6.90 per cent
to Rs 14.30, Pfizer's terramycin was raised by 11 per cent, E
Merck's neurobion prices were increased by 2.37 per cent from
Rs 253.61 to Rs 259.61, E Merck's polybion was raised by 2.27
per cent to Rs 157.25, Lupin's optineuron prices was raised by
7.09 per cent from Rs 5.22 to Rs 5.59 and its TB drug rinizide
has also been raised.
040106 Pharma Products and Agri-products Out of Patents Act
In it latest amendments to the Patents Act, the government has
decided to exclude pharmaceutical products and agri-products from
the list of patentable items. The Patent Act will come for review
again to meet with TRIPS (Trade-related intellectual Property
Rights) requirements of the Word Trade organisation in 2003. Till
then India will have the discretion of using their own rules.
Multinational will have to wait till 2003 to patent their products
for the Indian market since India only recognises process patents
at present.
040107 Industry Minister Okays Pfizer Wholly-owned Subsidiary
Pfizer's objective of setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India will come true with the industry minister clearing its plans. The minister, Murasoli Maran, has accepted the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board permitting Pfizer to go ahead with the venture. In August the FIPB had approved Pfizer's plans. But it had met with resistance from the minority shareholders of the existing Pfizer India, in which the multinational has a 40 per cent stake. The shareholders had argued that the value of their holdings will diminish if a wholly-owned subsidiary with identical products and services is set up in India.
The company has taken advantage of a loophole in the rules which
state that, only if the multinational has a local collaborator
having a substantial shareholding does it have to obtain a no
objection certificate from the collaborator to set up a wholly-owned
subsidiary.
040108 Exim Bank to Buy Stake in Two Pharmaceutical Companies
The Export-Import Bank of India which has a special research and development lending programme for companies in the pharmaceutical industry is also taking equity stakes in the overseas operations of two pharmaceutical companies. One is in a US-based pharmaceutical company which is being taken over by an Indian pharmaceutical major and the other is in a three-way manufacturing collaboration in China.
So far, six Indian pharmaceutical companies have been disbursed
loans from the bank's research and development lending programme.
They include: Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Rallis India, Aurobindo
Pharma, Biocon India, Moser Baer India and JB Chemicals. The bank
provides loans up to Rs 15 crore to export-oriented pharmaceutical
companies at a concessional rate of interest which is nearly half
of its normal interest rate.
040109 Monsanto's Merger with Pharmacia Upjohn
In a further consolidation in the world pharmaceutical industry, Monsanto Company and Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc are merging to create the world's eleventh largest drugs company with a market capitalisation of $ 50 billion, sales of $ 17 billion and prescription sales of $ 10 billion.
The merger will not have much effect in India. Both companies
have different product lines in India. Pharmacia has a turnover
of Rs 67 crore from its range of pharmaceuticals and Monsanto's
arm RPG Life Sciences has products in the fields of female health,
opthalmology, metabolic disorders and cardio-vasculars.
040110 Cheminor to Fully Own US Subsidiary, may Merge with Dr. Reddy's
Cheminor Drugs, a part of the Dr. Reddy's group will buy out the
25 per cent held by a US national in their subsidiary Reddy Cheminor
Inc in the US, to gain full control of the company. Cheminor owns
the rest of the equity, i.e. 75 per cent. Also on the cards is
the merger of Cheminor with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, which may
take place in the coming accounting year.
040111 Max India to Enter Healthcare and Information Technology
Max India Ltd., the flag ship of the Max group, will spearhead
its entry into healthcare and information technology fields. The
company will focus on developing software and IT-enabled services
for the healthcare, insurance and telcom sectors. The company
is also considering acquisitions in the field of information technology.
The company has envisged a Rs 300-400 crore project in the field
of healthcare over a period of four years. The company also plans
to set up family consulting clinics, diagnostic centres and hospitals.
040112 Wockhardt Bifurcating Pharma and Life Sciences Businesses
Wockhardt is bifurcating its pharmaceutical and life sciences
businesses. The pharmaceutical business is being moved into a
shell company which will then be renamed Wockhard Ltd. Meanwhile,
the existing company which has agri-products, intravenous products
and hospitals in its range will be renamed Wockhardt Life Sciences.
The whole exercise is aimed to save on stamp duty. The company
has realised that transferring the pharmaceutical business out
of it will cost less by way of stamp duty than transferring the
life sciences business.
040113 Orchid to Buy Ajanta's Bulk Drug Unit at Waluj
The Chennai-based drug major, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
is buying for Rs 21 crore Ajanta Pharma's bulk drug unit at Waluj.
Orchid will absorb the workforce of 100 in the Ajanta facility.
Ajanta wishes to concentrate on its core business of formulations,
hence this sale. This will mark Ajanta's exit from bulk drugs.
The funds from the sale will be used for its formulations joint
ventures abroad. Menawhile Orchid is planning to aggressively
enter the non-cephalosporin bulk drug and formulations business.
040114 Core Healthcare in Debt Restructuring Exercise
The sick Rs 320-crore Core Healthcare which owes creditors over
Rs 1,000 crore is working on a deal with creditor banks for debt
restructuring. A one-time settlement with creditors will be done
through the sale of assets. The company has found a buyer for
its 20 MW captive power plant for which it will receive Rs 60
crore. The company is also considering selling its mainstream
IV fluids, syringes and injectables units. However, the company
has denied rumours of the German multinational Fresenius taking
over the company.
040115 Ajanta Pharma Planning Initial Public Offering
In line with the recent spate of initial public offerings by information
technology companies, pharmaceutical companies are also hitching
on to the bandwagon, or so we think. The 26-year old Ajanta Pharma
(projected sales for year ended March 2000: Rs 175 crore) is a
case in point. Its issue will hit the market in march and the
offering is being priced at Rs 200-240 per share. This comes after
the successful issues of the Rs 200-crore Glenmark and the Rs
361-crore Cadila Zydus. The promoters' holding will be diluted
from 78 per cent to 60 per cent. As reported in this issue (see
010113) Ajanta has sold its bulk drugs unit at Waluj to Orchid
Chemicals for Rs 21 crore and exited from the bulk drugs business
to concentrate on the formulations business. Ajanta's equity will
swell from Rs 8.81 crore to Rs 11.75 crore after the issue.
| Comp. | Acc. Year | Latest Annual
Result | Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Half Year | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 | |||||||
| Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | |||
| Lupin Labs. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 715.7 | 25.30 | 190 | 12.86 | 189.3 | 12.8 | 379.4 | 25.66 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | +2.3 | +30 | 3 | 42 | 3 | 35 | - | - | - | - | |
| Orchid
Chem. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 175.3 | 19.21 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | +33 | +9 | - | - | - | - | |
| Pfizer | Dec.99
Nov.99 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 76.97 | 9.87 | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | +26 | +8 | - | - | |
| Abbott Labs. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | - | - | - | - | 58.24 | 2.88 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +8 | +73 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Pun. Chem. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | - | - | - | - | 19.18 | 0.09 | 37.67 | .19 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | -13 | -91 | -5 | -90 | - | - | - | - | |
| Unichem Labs. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | - | - | - | - | 56.38 | 4.88 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +8 | +35 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Ranbaxy Labs. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | - | - | - | - | 409.7 | 77.9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | -1.6 | +54 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Glaxo | Jan.99
Dec.00 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 248 | 16 | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | +32 | -26 | - | - | |
| Shashun
Chem. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 165.7 | 7.50 | - | - | 42.89 | 4.55 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | -1 | +82 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Suven Pharma. | Apr. 99
Mar.00 | 30.98 | 2.50 | - | - | 9.73 | 1.02 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +13 | +54 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Neuland Labs. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 65.97 | 2.1 | - | - | 18.51 | n.a. | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +8 | n.a. | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Cipla | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 617.2 | 114.9 | - | - | 199.7 | 35.75 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +23 | +14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Panacea
Biotec | Apr.99
Mar.00 | - | - | - | - | - | 3.66 | 57.95 | 5.70 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | - | +35 | +39 | +36 | - | - | - | - | |
| Torrent
Pharma. | Apr.99
Mar.00 | - | - | - | - | 101.1 | 18.80 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +13 | +75 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Knoll
Pharma | Jan.99
Dec.99 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 77.5 | 40.6 | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | +9 | +286 | - | - | |
| Parke
Davis | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 179.3 | 6.93 | - | - | 52.93 | 4.31 | 101.0 | 8.14 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +6 | +85 | +0.2 | +42 | - | - | - | - | |
| Makers
Labs | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 23.95 | 0.80 | - | - | 8.93 | 0.3 | 17.05 | 0.64 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +20 | +11 | +17 | +42 | - | - | - | - | |
| Sun
Pharma | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 335.6 | 59.04 | - | - | 112.8 | 22.79 | 215.8 | 42.8 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +35 | +53 | +41 | +60 | - | - | - | - | |
| Bal
Pharma | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 24.89 | 0.62 | - | - | 8.26 | 0.44 | 14.44 | 0.57 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +22 | +158 | +17 | +72 | - | - | - | - | |
| Vorin
Labs | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 72.85 | 2.35 | - | - | 15.56 | 0.19 | 35.1 | 12.5 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | -43 | -76 | -20 | -42 | - | - | - | - | |
| Ipca
Labs | Apr.99
Mar.00 | 335.4 | 21.4 | - | - | 95.22 | 8.09 | 171.8 | 15.9 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +1 | +105 | +0.5 | +48 | - | - | - | - | |
| Dr. Reddy's | Apr.99
Mar.00 | - | - | - | - | 113.5 | - | 239.9 | - | 120.7 | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +4 | - | +7 | - | 35 | - | - | - | |
| Comp. | Acc. Year | Latest Annual
Result | Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Half Year | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 | |||||||
| Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | Sales
(Cr.) | Net
(Cr.) | |||
| J B Chem. | Apr.'99
Mar.'00 | 152.8 | 14.53 | - | - | 40.65 | 4.65 | 82.78 | 10.15 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +3 | +75 | +5 | +30 | - | - | - | - | |
| Dabur
India | Apr.'99
Mar.'00 | 914.7 | 51.60 | - | - | 261.6 | 18.91 | 495.1 | 440.1 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +6 | -21 | +12 | +91 | - | - | - | - | |
| Morepen
Labs. | Apr.'99
Mar.'00 | 256.5 | 34.3 | - | - | 84.6 | 12.2 | 155.5 | 21.6 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +24 | +43 | +28 | +43 | - | - | - | - | |
| Nich.
Piramal | Apr.'99
Mar.'00 | - | - | - | - | 124.2 | 14.12 | 237.1 | 25.57 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +12 | +25 | +12 | +23 | - | - | - | - | |
| Wock-
hardt. | Jul.'98
Dec.'99 | - | - | 209.0 | 34.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | +36 | +45 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Ind-Swift
Labs | Apr.'99
Mar.'00 | 42.65 | 12.3 | - | 15.58 | .8 | 29.85 | 1.55 | - | - | - | - | ||
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +54 | +220 | +58 | +288 | - | - | - | - | |
| Veronica
Labs. | Apr.'99
Mar.'00 | 7.19 | .25 | - | - | 5.81 | .41 | 11.08 | .92 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Auro-
bindo | Apr.'99
Mar.'00 | 550.0 | 50.14 | - | - | 174.2 | 18.61 | 357.3 | 37.2 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | +20 | +63 | +44 | +85 | - | - | - | - | |
| Novartis
India | Apr.'99
Mar.'00 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 424 | 49 | - | - | - | - | |
| % chng. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |