Herbal major Sami Labs is investing Rs 75 crore to set up 11 units including a central ware house in different parts of the country, as part of its business growth plans.
While 10 out of the 11 units are coming up in the southern region, one unit is planned in Uttaranchal with an investment of Rs 5 crore. Construction will commence within the next few weeks and commissioning will be done by December 2005. Sami plans to shift all its formulation manufacturing activity from the existing Bangalore plant to the Uttranchal unit.
The company has invested Rs 10 crore for 4 acres of land at the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Biotech Park in Hyderabad. The facility will be operational by August 2006. It will be a process unit for an intermediary Soleanesol, and the company plans to source active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from Andhra Pradesh units.
Further, the company is setting up two herbal extract units in Dobspet near Tumkur with a dedicated central warehouse, two units in Kunigal and a TGA, MCH, US FDA approval sterile facility in Neelamangala for manufacturing of Forskolin eye drops for Glaucoma. The new unit in Neelamnagala is close to its existing unit, which is a biotechnology fermentation facility. In addition, the company plans to relocate its Mysore unit to Bidadi on Mysore Road. It will also upgrade its Singasandra unit to anew plant to augment production capacity. Sami had invested Rs 35 crore over a period of two decades to set up facilities at Singasandra, Kunigal, Mysore and Nelamangala.
The company has chalked out a Phase I and Phase II integrated investment programme to ensure speedy completion of these projects and funds are likely to be sourced mainly from internal accruals, financial institutions and through venture capital route.
“In the last few months, Sami Labs is emerging stronger than before in unfolding a range of new formulations which will allow us to chart a high growth path. We are preparing ourselves for a new growth phase which combine capacity expansion, new plants and novel drugs,” Dr Muhammed Majeed, chairman and managing director, Sami Labs told Pharmabiz.
As Pharmabiz reported, the company is setting up unit in 22 acres of land in Salem for production of ForsLean, its brand for Coleus forskohlii extract food supplement for weight management. The company has roped in 5000 farmers in Salem and adjoining districts to cultivate the raw material, Coleus forskohlii.
In addition to the investment, Sami has earmarked acquisition of mid-sized companies in Brazil, Europe and Australia, which are likely to happen before the end of this year. Its subsidiary Sabinsa-Malaysia is now scouting for partnerships in the South Asian regions.
While Dr Majeed is confident to see Rs 600 crore turnover by end of this fiscal, he stated that the growth drivers would be innovative products, combined with patents that will provide the momentum especially from US, Europe and Japan which are the potential revenues generation points for the company.
The unit expansions will see manpower increase from the current 850 personnel to 1,200 by mid 2006. The company’s patent status stands at 19 from US, 5 from Europe and 24 international patents pending. Sami Labs has another 6 products in the last stages of clearance and these include drugs for arthritis and weight loss. Sami Group has Sabinsa Corporation in the US, Organica Aromatics, Anju Phytochemicals and Sami Labs under its fold. |