Biocon has planned a cumulative capex of ₹2,000 crore for the generics business over the next three years.
The company’s overall capex in generics is spread across the greenfield plant in Vizag, a peptide API facility in Bengaluru and a large synthetic facility in Hyderabad. It will also cover expansion of the R&D infrastructure in Bengaluru.
Siddharth Mittal, CEO & Managing Director, Biocon Limited, said, “Phase I of the greenfield plant for APIs in Vizag, which is a much smaller unit, has been commissioned. However, we have a much larger immunosuppressant facility under construction that is expected to be commissioned by calendar 2022, and then the work on regulatory approvals will commence after that. For this plant, we are investing almost ₹600 crore.”
Peptide API facility
“The peptide API facility in Bengaluru will take almost two years to commission. In addition, we have a large synthetic block coming up in Hyderabad, the construction of which again would start early next calendar year. Then we have a couple of other facilities, including the expansion of our R&D and other infrastructure in Bengaluru. The work on these would start in the coming days,” he added.
With regard to capex in the biologics business, MB Chinappa, Chief Financial Officer, Biocon Biologics, told analysts, “So far, the gross fixed assets is about $450 million, and our net block would be closer to $200 million. As we scale up to billion dollars and beyond, we will be investing quite heavily on capex.”