The Hindu Business Line : Bal Pharma enters Japanese market

MR SHAILESH SIROYA (left), Managing Director, Bal Pharma Ltd, and Dr S. Prasanna, Director, at a press conference in Bangalore on Tuesday. — G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , Nov. 28

Bangalore-based Bal Pharma Ltd has entered the $60-billion Japanese pharma market with its bulk drug products Ebastine (used in antihistamines) and Gliclazide (an antidiabetic bulk active).

The company has obtained the Foreign Manufacturers' Accreditation from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and has been granted the Japanese DMF (drug master file).

Ebastine's global sales are estimated to be around $200 million, of which Japan and Spain account for around $160 million.

Bal Pharma is the only non-European source to have this approval in both the countries.

Speaking to newspersons, Mr Shailesh Siroya, Managing Director, said: "We are planning to file six more products for Japanese DMFs in the next three years. These are products that are being developed exclusively for the Japanese market."

Mr Siroya also said that the Japanese market would account for about 15 per cent of the company's revenues in the next three years.

The company's turnover is currently Rs 76 crore and is estimated to touch Rs 300 crore by 2010, mainly through growth in the international markets and branded formulations.

Bal Pharma forayed into herbal products three years ago and currently has 13 products in the segment, with most of the products contract manufactured.

The ayurvedic products division is expected to contribute about Rs 10 crore to company turnover by 2010, Mr Siroya said.

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