To release dementia drug, among others, from India plant.
Hyderabad: Japanese pharma major Eisai plans to invest Rs 100 crore in India to expand its manufacturing capacity and research capabilities.
The investment would go into increasing the manufacturing capacity of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and product research at the Eisai Knowledge Centre, Visakhapatnam.
“We have already invested $50 million in India. The next round of $20-million investment would happen towards the end of the current financial year,'' Mr Sanjit Singh Lamba, Managing Director, Eisai Knowledge Centre, Visakhapatnam, and Head of Global Procurement Strategy for Eisai, told Business Line here.
Eisai, which has $9 billion global revenues, plans to make India a global procurement platform for itself. “We are talking to our technology transfer team in Japan. The manufacturing of three more new products (in addition to the two which have already been shifted) will be moved to India,'' he said.
The first batch of Aricep (for dementia patients) manufactured for the first time in India would roll out from its plant on July 21, he said. This would be followed by Parit (rabeprozal sodium), followed by two more drugs, he said.
“Parit is a major product for us, with a revenue size of $2.5 billion and beginning its production in India is a big thing,'' the Eisai functionary said.
At present, GSK manufactures Parit for Eisai, he added.
On the research front, the Eisai Knowledge Centre is working on five projects. “Of these, three are process development projects. The remaining two are on development of new molecules in the therapeutic areas of cardiovascular and central nervous system,'' he said.
Going forward, Eisai in India would focus on forging contract research and contract manufacturing partnerships. “We may off load some of our projects to contract research organisations,'' Mr Singh said.
Efforts were also on to source more raw materials from India, he said.
The Knowledge Centre now has 120 personnel. “We will add another 40 soon,'' he said.