Page 57 - CW E-Magazine (Oct-Nov-2023)

Happenings

Pharmexcil inks MoU with In July 2022, Orchid Pharma an- a period of five years, the company is
Korean pharma trade body nounced that its wholly-owned subsid- expecting to create over 750 jobs with
iary, Orchid Bio Pharma, has received investment of Rs. 125-crore under the
The Pharmaceuticals Export Promo- approval to manufacture 7-ACA with PLI scheme. Mr. Gadkari said the new
tion Council (Pharmexcil), an arm of a committed capacity of 1,000-tpa. excipient plant will not only reduce im-
the Union Ministry of Commerce, has Subsequently, Orchid Bio Pharma en- port dependence for excipients, but also
entered into a Memorandum of Under- tered into an MoU with an overseas boost exports going forward.
standing (MoU) with the Korea Pharma- technology provider for in-licensing of
ceuticals and Bio-Manufacturers Asso- 7-ACA. The company also announced Dr. Ravleen Singh Khurana, Man-
ciation (KPBMA), a trade body of South an investment of Rs. 600-crore in capex aging Director, Nitika Pharma, said
Korean pharmaceutical companies, ac- towards its upcoming new manufactur- that the new facility symbolises the
counting for a major share of medicines ing plant in Jammu set up under PLI company’s commitment to quality, in-
used in the country. The MoU is aimed scheme. novation, and sustainable manufactur-
at information exchange, trade and co- ing practices.
operation in the area of pharmaceuticals Orchid Pharma’s MD, Mr. Manish
and biotechnology products and also Dhanuka had earlier said the 7-ACA Syngene to invest Rs.
promote market access. project will help in backward integra- 788-crore for campus
tion of key raw materials and reduce
The South Korean pharma market dependency on sourcing from China. expansion in Genome
is estimated at $22-bn with generics Valley
having a share of 46% ($10.18-bn),
patented products accounting for 36% INFRASTRUCTURE / Syngene International, the publicly
($8-bn), and OTC products for 17% GROWTH PLANS listed contract research & development
($3.8-bn) in 2022. subsidiary of Biocon, is expanding in
India’s export of pharmaceuticals Nitika Pharma inaugurates Hyderabad’s Genome Valley by build-
to South Korea touched $167-mn in new microcrystalline ing 16.5 lakh sq.ft. of cutting-edge re-
FY23, a 34% growth over previous fis- cellulose plant in Nagpur search laboratories spread over 17.5
cal, according to Pharmexcil data. APIs acres.
and drug intermediates accounted for Nagpur-based excipient company,
43%, while finished dosage formula- Nitika Pharmaceuticals Specialities, The Bengaluru-based company has
tions represented 25%. recently inaugurated a new microcrys- drawn up plans to invest Rs. 788-crore
and create 1,000 additional jobs in the
talline cellulose (MCC) manufactur-
Orchid Pharma inks tech ing facility at Butibori, Nagpur. The project over the next five years.
transfer pact with biotech company said the facility, with an Syngene’s existing facilities, which
firm for 7-ACA project installed capacity of 1,200-tpa, is the were inaugurated in 2020, house 2.2
country’s largest MCC manufacturing lakh sq ft of lab space and over 900 sci-
Orchid Pharma Ltd. has announced plant.
that it has entered into a technology entists. The construction of the new fa-
transfer agreement with a leading mul- The inauguration was attended by cility is expected to begin in 2024 after
tinational biotechnology company for eminent personalities including Mr. the requisite statutory approvals.
its fermentation based 7-aminocepha- Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister Road
losporanic acid (7ACA) project under Transport and Highways and Mr. De- The research carried out on the site
the production linked incentive (PLI) vendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minis- focuses on discovery chemistry and bi-
scheme. 7-ACA is the core chemical ter, Maharashtra. ology, primarily for the global pharma-
structure for the synthesis of cephalo- ceutical industry. The site also includes
sporin antibiotics and intermediates. Speaking at the inauguration cer- a PROTAC laboratory that conducts re-
emony, Mr. Gadkari noted the fact that search into disease-causing proteins for
The Chennai-based pharmaceutical the company is first excipient manu- diseases such as cancer and a central
manufacturer, however, did not dis- facturing company to receive benefits compound management facility that
close the name of the biotechnology under the government’s Production serves as a central storage facility for
firm or further details of the agreement. Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. Over all compounds synthesised by Syngene.

Chemical Weekly October / November 2023 53