Aurobindo Pharma plans Rs 1,000 crore biologics plant with 30 mn vials capacity

Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, a leading pharmaceutical company, said it is accelerating its growth strategy to seize market opportunities. The company plans to expand its specialty business, speed up biosimilar product development, strengthen its supply chain, and scale operations in emerging markets.

The company has 14 biosimilar products under different stages of development and it has submitted 14 peptide API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) DMF’s (Drug Master File) in the US.

On the manufacturing facility front, the company has invested about Rs 2,500 crore to set up a Penicillin-G manufacturing plant under the PLI scheme. The pharma major now has a manufacturing capacity of more than 50 billion formulation units and 19,000 MT APIs with 29 manufacturing facilities in operation. The company has six facilities under construction, which are expected to be operational in few years.

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, TheraNym Biologics Pvt Ltd (TheraNym), Aurobindo Pharma has ventured into biologics contract manufacturing through a master service agreement (MSA) with MSD pharmaceutical company. It plans to set up a biologics manufacturing plant with a capacity of nearly 30 million vials per year at an investment of up to Rs 1,000 crore.

Commenting on the future outlook, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, K Nithyananda Reddy, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd said, “With our newly commercialized manufacturing units, we are confident of continuing the growth trajectory, improve self-reliance and achieve sustainable top-line and bottom-line growth. We will continue to invest in R&D, line/capacity expansion related projects and capability enhancement projects, including the biosimilars and biologics CMO. These investments will further drive our growth.”

The drug maker recently forayed into the Indonesian market through an acquisition of 17 brands from Viatris/Pfizer, which has a work force of over 150 people.