The Hindu Business Line : VINS Bio embarks on expansion drive

HAVING consolidated its market leadership in making anti-snake venom serum in the domestic and overseas markets, VINS Bioproducts Ltd , the Hyderabad-based biotechnology products company, has now decided to embark upon an expansion-cum-diversification programme.

Addressing newspersons here on Wednesday, the Managing Director, Mr N. Viswanath, said the company has decided to enter various therapeutic segments such as cardiology, blood products, vaccines and anti-cancer drugs.

The company plans to set up a USFDA compliant new manufacturing facility to augment its present capacities with a portion of it to be dedicated for emerging outsourcing opportunities.

The company expects the Rs 20-crore new facility to take off by the last quarter of the next fiscal. Ruling out the possibility of tapping the capital market with an initial public offer for the time being to part-finance the expansion project, Mr Viswanath said the company plans to meet funds requirement through own resources and institutional borrowings.

"We have no plans to tap the market at least till we establish ourselves in the marketplace as a leading biotechnology products company," he said.

Currently enjoying a market share of over 40 per cent in the domestic anti-snake venom serum market, the company has posted a turnover of Rs 7.5 crore during the last fiscal and expects to close the current fiscal with a business size of Rs 10 crore. By pre-paying the institutional loans, it has already become a debt-free company.

To reach more rural markets, the company is planning to enter into a joint venture agreement with a public sector undertaking for the manufacture of vaccines.

Declining to divulge further details on the matter, Mr Viswanath said the company would announce the venture in the next two-three months.

As a part of its strategy to offer cost-effective vaccines for which there has been an acute shortage, VINS Bio is now planning to come out with anti-rabies serum shortly. According to WHO estimates, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan account for 75 per cent of rabies deaths worldwide. Stating that the company's R&D division has also developed anti sera for diphtheria, gas gangrene, tetanus and scorpion venom and human immunoglobulins, Mr Viswanath said these products were slated for launch during 2005-06.

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