As the ‘on sale' tag gets affixed to every prospective drug-maker in the country by match-makers in the industry, the over Rs 800-crore Elder Pharma's Director Mr Alok Saxena refutes such stories linked to his company.
“They are definitely not true,” Mr Saxena, part of the promoter family, told Business Line , adding further: “I have no desire to sell.”
In fact, with the domestic market looking to be “phenomenal” over the next two-three years, he says, the company is investing about Rs 130 crore in its research facility, over the same period.
Last year, the research facility was upgraded to focus on developing new drug delivery systems, he said. In the second year, the team has been increased and will work on developing products to be marketed by the company and its in-licensing partners.
The company has about 25 licensing partners, whose products Elder Pharma sells in India. The company is undertaking collaborative research work in some of these partnerships, he said.
Elder Pharma's area of focus includes prescription products in women's health, nutraceuticals and pain management. At present, wound care and pain management contribute about 16 per cent to Elder's turnover and is anticipated to grow at over 15 per cent every year, the company said.
Elder's products include its Rs 200-crore Shelcal, now set to be taken to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, among other markets.
Overseas plans
Last year, saw Elder Pharma hike its stake in UK's Neutra Health Plc to 100 per cent, besides holding 92 per cent equity in Elder Biomeda of Bulgaria. Both operations will contribute about 25 per cent of the turnover this year, he said, adding that last year, they were included only in the last three months of the fiscal.
The focus will be on Bulgaria, which will later be used as an access market into Europe. The plan is also to support Neutra products through different pricing, he said, adding that they would at a later stage look at bringing some of their products into India, as well. The company looks to clock consolidated revenues of about Rs 1,300 crore, this fiscal.