Cadila Pharma selects site for $150M Russian plant

When it comes to Russia, access to a fast-emerging market comes at a cost. As the country bolsters its own manufacturing capabilities, it's urging foreign companies to build plants within the country if they want to get in on the action. That's exactly what India's Cadila Pharmaceuticals is doing--and now it has tagged a site in Russia's Astrakhan region for a new $150 million manufacturing plant.

According to Russia & India Report, the region's Narimanovsky district will be the site of Cadila's forthcoming plant, for which the company is looking to buy 20 hectares of land. A delegation from Astrakhan, led by the vice governor, recently visited one of Cadila's production facilities in India and were pleased with what they saw, with work on the new plant starting just after the officials' trip.

"We showcased our production facility, as well as our achievements in establishing new plants and expanding markets for our medicines," Rajiv Modi, Cadila's chairman and managing director, told Russia & India Report. "It's good to know that our company's intention to enter the Russian pharmaceuticals market has met with support here in the Astrakhan Region."

As the RIR article notes, the new plant--which will likely be the production site for most of the company's drugs, and in particular its flagship tuberculosis treatments--falls in line with the company's foreign expansion strategy to tap emerging markets growth by increasing capabilities in Russia, China and some African countries. With Russia aiming to up its share of domestically produced pharmaceuticals to 50% by 2020, Cadila is now following in the footsteps of Big Pharma players like Novartis ($NVS), Takeda and Abbott Laboratories ($ABT), which all have Russian plants either open already or in the works.

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