Roselabs taps growth of prefilled syringes in India

While prefilled syringes are the norm in much of the world, they are only now being adopted in India. Gujarat-based Roselabs Group expects to get ahead of the curve there with a new plant it says will produce more than 150 million prefilled syringes a year.

The company has invested Rs 400 crore ($68 million) to build the 90,000-square-foot production facility. It intends to produce prefilled syringes for other drugmakers globally, but the company also will tap the growing demand for their use in India, Director Zameer Agrawal told The Economic Times. "We have set up this facility as there has been increased penetration of PFS in the Indian market and India is gradually becoming a hub for supply of injectable products," Agrawal said.  The company said it is preparing for preinspections by U.S. drug regulators and intends to file an ANDA by the end of the year.

While prefilled syringes have been long-used in the West, Becton Dickinson ($BDX) sees more potential for their use in the U.S. In March, it opened a $100 million plant in North Carolina. The company has already gotten approval to make two products there, antihistamine diphenhydramine hydrochloride injection and metoclopramide injection, USP, an injectable antiemetic.

BD actually intends to roll out 20 to 30 more drugs over the next several years. Its angle is to charge a premium by selling them as safer and time-saving.

- read the Economic Times story