The Hindu Business Line : Strides looks at four-fold increase in US revenues this year

Strides Arcolab Ltd says it expects to get a significant foothold in the US market this year as several of its products approved by the USFDA start sales.

Armed with US regulatory approvals for 28 products so far and expecting more to come, Strides is looking at a four-fold increase in its US revenues this year, according to Mr Venkat S.Iyer, CEO-India Operations.

Focus on steriles

The Bangalore-based generic drug maker has lined up steriles mainly, oral products for the large US hospital segment apart from HIV/AIDS drugs. “Our focus is steriles, a segment that does not have too many players there. We may be 3-4 years ahead of the others,” Mr Iyer told Business Line.

He estimated that by the year-end revenues of $40-50 million (Rs 200-250 crore) should be coming in from the US, compared with $10-12 million (Rs 50-60 crore) last year from five products. Revenues in 2008 from North America 2 per cent of Strides’s global turnover of Rs 1,130 crore.

Last year’s entries vancomycin, rifampicin, adenosine and flumezenil should also see increased sales this year, Mr Iyer reckoned. It recently put up a Rs 350-crore second plant at Bommasandra, increasing the manufacturing capacity ten-fold. The plant manufactures steriles such as penicillin, cephalosporin, beta-lactam and injectibles.

“That plant has gone operational and comes in handy even as approvals are happening,” Mr Iyer said. “We have triggered the process for its inspection and approval by the USFDA. Once the new plant is approved, most of the sales [of the approved ones] will happen this year.” So far, 16 steriles and 12 oral products have been approved.

The drug maker has been looking at the regulated but large US market, along with Europe, for the last few years. Some 200 filings have been made there in three years.

Tie-up with Akorn, Sagent

Strides has tied up with Akorn Inc and Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc to take its products to the US.

Nearly half the 70-odd ANDA (abbreviated new drug application) filings it made in 2008 were for the US alone. It earlier said it planned to enter 100 sterile products and file 40 of them in 2009. Last year, Strides had the highest number of approvals for sterile injectables. If steriles is a niche, competitive area, Strides also wants to be a significant player in the low-cost anti-retrovirals to treat HIV/AIDS patients.

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Strides looks at four-fold increase in US revenues this year