Lupin to make HIV cocktail drugs
By Nisha Das | 24 Oct 2001
Mumbai:
Lupin
Laboratories Ltd, the worlds largest tuberculosis drug
major is planning to develop once-a-day dosages for HIV
cocktail drugs and anti-tuberculosis combination drugs.
These dosages will replace the current daily regimen of
nine to 12 tablets a day prescribed for patients suffering
from the deadly HIV and tuberculosis combination.
Currently,
the anti-HIV market in India is growing by 30 to 35 per
cent annually. Only about five or six drug companies sell
anti-HIV formulations. Senior Lupin officials said the
company has decided to develop once-a-day delivery systems
for HIV cocktail and anti-TB drugs and is hopeful of launching
these drugs in the market within one year.
Officials said Lupin being the market leader in the anti-TB
segments it would be a logical extension for the company
to enter the anti-HIV drugs segment since tuberculosis
is the most common threat to immuno-compromised patients.
We are not interested in entering the anti-HIV segment
in a conventional way since the market is already very
competitive. We will focus on delivery systems, they
said.
Lupin has also developed two platform technologies for
oral-controlled release systems. The company hopes to
extend these technologies to develop new drug delivery
systems (NDDS) in the anti-TB and anti-HIV areas.
Besides
this, Lupin is also planning to tap into the global anti-TB
drugs market, valued at $300 million. The company is in
the process of commissioning a dedicated state-of-the-art
formulation facility for anti-TB drugs by March 2002.
It has also invested Rs 18 crore in a new plant in Aurangabad.
Officials said Lupin is also in the process of setting
up a wholly-owned marketing arm in Venezuela in the current
fiscal year. The company plans to target the whole of
the Andean economic block by setting up a common hub in
Venezuela. The subsidiary will be called Lupin Venezuela
Ltd and will also cover some Central American countries.
The company will be earmarking a working capital investment
of Rs 20 crore and is hoping to achieve a Rs 50 crore
sales target in the first year, which it hopes to increase
to Rs 150 crore by 2003. Lupin will promote a range of
products in Venezuela, with cephalosporins being a core
area. On the domestic front, Lupin is making a foray into
the lucrative anti-diabetes and cardiovascular therapeutic
segments. The company has plans to launch 10 new drugs
in these areas this year.
During the second quarter of the current financial year,
the company registered sales of Rs 242.16 crore as compared
to Rs 230. 96 in the same quarter the previous year.
The profit after tax for the quarter has increased by
17.5 per cent to Rs 23.70 crore over Rs 20.16 crore in
the same period the previous year. The companys operating
profit has also increased by 12.7 per cent to Rs 46.49
core from Rs 41.42 crore for the same period in the previous
year.
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