Roselabs Biosciences Ltd, which launched pre-filled syringes (PFS) early this year, plans to raise about Rs 100 crore over the next 18 months through private equity from a global investor in the pharmaceutical sector for the in-house research and development of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
The company, which has invested Rs 400 crore on its PFS facility near Ahmedabad, is expecting to take a final call by October and commence work on the project early next year, Zameer Agarwal, Director, told Business Line here on Tuesday.
“We are evaluating the proposals with two to three players, or can even go for it ourselves, for development of new, rare molecules in biotechnology and peptide ranges,” he said.
Roselabs recently signed a contract with a Brazilian company which will import and market its products in Latin American countries, having a market size of $815 million. The Brazilian market in four important molecules is about $20 million. The Brazilian company will invest $1 million for making preparations and registering Roselab products there.
Besides, the Ahmedabad-based firm is targeting 13 markets for its empty syringe range across the emerging economies of South Africa, Latin America and Asia, including China. “By the end of 2014, we expect to reach out to 100 countries.”
Agarwal claimed that Roselabs is the only pharmaceutical company in the world undergoing backward integration to offer delivery system-to-drug making. To begin with, it would focus on 4 APIs in biotechnology and one in the general category.
Roselabs has a capacity to work on 91 molecules, of which 30 are likely to be commercially manufactured. It has so far filed dossiers for 26 molecules with 28 countries. Proposals with three of these — Uganda, Kenya and Paraguay — are expected to mature in the next couple of months. It is launching syringes with a safety device in Paraguay by October. It would also launch five to six molecules in these countries in critical and gynaecological care.
It has also entered into contract manufacturing deals with nearly 10 Gujarat-based companies, including Cadila Pharmaceuticals.
The World Health Organisation-Good Manufacturing Practice (WHO-GMP) had approved the company’s PFS, a drug delivery system already popular in regulated markets that minimises the risk of accidental needle stick injuries numbering about three millions globally each year.
The company is focusing on making empty glass and polymer syringes, contract manufacturing, development of any formulation in PFS, a customised drug delivery system and marketing formulations under its own brand name, he said, adding that Roselabs is currently marketing 26 molecules.
The Ahmedabad-based company has the capacity to manufacture eight lakh syringes daily. Currently, nearly 95 per cent of PFS are imported in India. The global market for PFS is $3 billion, of which India accounts for only one per cent.