Claris Lifesciences on an expansion spree;Rs 1000 turnover by 2009

Ahmedabad, July 16 (UNI) Having established its stronghold in the injectable products market in India as well as the overseas markets, Claris Lifesciences Ltd plans an ambitious expansion of Rs 235 crore to double the production capacity in a year's time to clock a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore by 2009.

''With the completion of expansion plan, the turnover of Claris Lifesciences is expected to touch Rs 1,000 crore expecting a net profit of about 20 per cent by 2009,'' the company's CMD Sushil Handa told visiting newspersons here.

The total altogether invesment in the company till now is about Rs 300 crore, Mr Handa said.

Claris Lifesciences is an international pharmaceutical company and enjoys market leadership in India. Globally, the company operates in more than 70 countries through its subsidiaries, offices and marketing distribution network, and a diverse customer profile covering institutions, major corporate hospitals and international aid agencies.

It is in the business of manufacturing and marketing sterile parenteral preparations, life saving medicines and hospital products, focusing on delivery system for treatment of critical illnesses and diseases.

With emphasis on research technology and quality, Claris offers a range of unique products and delivery systems in bottles, virals, ampoules, prefilled syringes, non-PVC/PVC bags and oral dosage forms.

The company's niche area is its know-how and expertise in manufacturing and marketing injectable products.

A major share of its turnover is derived from exports.

During 2005-06, Claris recorded a turnover of Rs 130 crore and in 2006-07 it is expected to be Rs 225 crore, during 2007-08 targetted at Rs 425 crore and Rs 1000 crore in 2008-09.

During the plant visit of journalists, Mr Handa said with the completion of the expansion process, the production capacity of this state-of-the-art plant will be doubled to meet domestic and international requirements.

The CMD of the company gave details of the funding arrangement of the expnasion plan. Nearly, Rs 90 crore will be take as loan from the Washington-based Carlayle Group, Rs 100 crore through other debt instruments and Rs 45 crore from internal accruals.

Mr Handa said at present the company has no plans to go in for an Initial Public Offer, but did not rule out the possibility of tapping the capital markets in future.

Mr Handa said the growth of the company could be both organic and inroganic, and did not rule out an acquisition in future.

The money raised will be spent on setting up a new manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad at the same place as the earlier unit. This will be used for development of new products and building infrastructure, besides setting up an agro-based co-generation plant at a cost of Rs 9 crore.

The captive power plant is expected to be completed by next week to produce 2 MW of power which can be later be enhanced to produce 4 MW without much extra cost.

The company currently has a net worth of over Rs 200 crore and has the potential to borrow money from overseas markets, he added.

Mr Handa said that Claris already has 500 dossiers approved and another 500 dossiers are in the process of getting approval. As many as 500 are being filed globally.

The products of the company have been approved by several International Regulatory Authorities. These include MHRA (UK), TGA (Australia), the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) ANVISA (Brazil) and INVIMA (Colombia).

An application for approval of sterile parenteral preperation manufacturing is pending with The United States Federal Drug Authority(USFDA). ''The approval from USFDA is expected in a couple of months' time,'' Mr Handa said.

Claris spends about 6-7 per cent of its turnover on R&D, he said.

He said the regulatory team of Claris has submitted more than 1,000 dossiers to various countries. Marketing Authorisation Applications have been filed in regulated markets, including the United Kingdom, USA, Netherlands, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.

It has established its own subsidiaries Claris Lifesciences Ltd.

(UK) and Claris Lifesciences Inc, (USA) and has organic presence in more than 70 countries across Latin America, Europe, CIS countries, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. To cater to high potential Chinese market, the company has also established its representative office in China.

The company's range of products and delivery systems extends across Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition, Anaesthesia, Blood Products and Plasma Volume Expanders, Anti-infectives, Dialysis and Transplant, Cardiac Care, Infusion Therapy as well as Medical Disposables and Equipment.

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