Ranbaxy, which recently halted all shipments from two of its plants that are facing import bans from the US, is in the process of zeroing in on some external ingredient manufacturing sites, according to sources.
The drug maker will source active pharmaceutical ingredients, or the raw material used to make finished medicines, from these plants.
A senior company official said Ranbaxy in considering some ingredient manufacturing sites and would source the ingredients from these plants.
The US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) had banned the company’s Toansa plant from exporting products to the US in January. The Toansa plant was estimated to produce about 70-75 per cent of Ranbaxy’s APIs.
According to the company this import alert could hit Ranbaxy’s US business by at least 10-15 per cent and it was imperative for the company to ensure it has its pharmaceutical ingredients pipeline in place to avert a further impact.
According to reports, the company is also in talks with two companies for sourcing ingredients for a generic version of AstraZeneca Plc’s heartburn pill Nexium. However, a company spokesperson refused to comment on this particular move.