Corona Remedies to invest Rs 20-25 cr for hormone facility

Ahmedabad-based pharma company, Corona Remedies plans to invest Rs 20-25 crores for setting up a hormone facility in Gujarat. The company will be setting up the facility adjoining its existing plant.

Commenting on the company’s expansion plans, Nirav K Mehta, Promoter and Executive Director, Corona Remedies said, “Recently, we have acquired minority stakes in Gujarat-based hormone API manufacturer La Chandra Pharmalab. It has a strong research pipeline of new chemical entities for gynaecology therapeutics. Presently, our company is positioned in the top 20 list of gynaecology therapeutics segment and with this collaboration, we are aiming to come in the top 10 list. Therefore, we are setting up a dedicated hormone facility in Gujarat.”

Mehta elaborated, “Although, we were also considering Himachal Pradesh, due to the topography there is not enough place near our existing facility in Corona to expand it further. Therefore, our upcoming oral solid dosage facility will be in Ahmedabad. In this facility, we have made an investment of Rs 100 crores, which is likely to be commissioned by Diwali this year. We had planned to begin commercial production from the OSD facility by July 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the plan got postponed for a few months. Besides, there is also space availability in the same facility, which we are considering for building a separate block for hormonal products and plan to invest approximately Rs 20-25 crores.”

Divulging information about their research pipeline, he commented that La Chandra Pharmalab has technical capabilities and expertise in sunrise technologies in API manufacturing and there are five NCEs in different stages of completion. He said, “We are confident that with this collaboration, out of total five, we will be able to launch two NCEs before the end of the current financial year.”

La Chandra Pharmalab is a manufacturer and supplier of pregnancy care drug progesterone in India. The company also has the international regulatory approvals for a range of hormone APIs.