Pharmaceutical formulations manufacturer Granules India has joined hands with Belgium-based Ajinomoto Omnichem to manufacture

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active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates for pharma majors. Granules Omnichem, the JV company in which both companies hold equal share, lined up a capex of $20 million (about Rs 90 crore) for the manufacturing facility at Pharmacity SEZ in Vishakapatnam. It hopes to garner revenues of Rs 400 crore by 2015 when the manufacturing facility is fully operational.

Granules MD Krishna Prasad said the JV will help the company diversify its business by offering high value APIs and intermediaries that will increase its profitability.

The JV would help Granules to enter contract manufacturing business while Omnichem would be able to access efficient manufacturing site and lifecycle management, he said, adding that the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly focusing on generics, estimated to be a $234 billion market.

The new company will focus on high value APIs and intermediates for existing customers and will take on custom manufacturing of new chemical entities. The new facility is expected to be operational by 2015.

“We seek to expand our market and leverage technology. This will help in protecting the existing business from lower cost base competition and capacity constraints,” said Gwin Bompas, MD, Omnichem.