Mumbai: Cadila Healthcare, India's fifth-largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, is planing to make a major foray into the lucrative generics market in the US and Europe. It has formed a 100-per cent subsidiary based in the US and plans aggressive hiring of manpower resources.

Cadila is making research and development (R&D) efforts required to move up the value chain, Pankaj R Patel, chairman and managing director, said at a conference organised by ICICI Securities in the US.

The company also plans to file nine DMFs (drug master files) and eight ANDAs (abbreviated new drug applications) in FY04. Its recent acquisition of Alpharma of France is likely to compliment its foray into the rapidly growing French market.

As part of its strategy to enter the US and Europe, the company will carefully select products and markets based on maturity, delivery system and off-patent block buster drugs, post-2005.

It is also forging long-term partnerships for API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) exports and is building a strong team to handle development, regulatory affairs and marketing. The company also plans to leverage on its alliances and joint ventures (JVs) with Altana (Zydus Altana, a 50:50 JV), Schering AG and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Cadila is exploring contract-manufacturing opportunities with alliance partners. The current JV, Zydus Altana, successfully completed its first full year of operations in FY03 with sales of Rs 1.1 billion and profits of Rs 771 million, a ICICI Securities report said. Cadila expects to receive Rs 100 million as dividend from this JV each quarter in the current financial year.

It has emerged as the fifth-largest pharmaceutical company in India following a merger of five group companies and four subsidiaries. The company has chalked out a vision to be among the top 10 global companies with a strong R&D pipeline by 2010. Currently, domestic formulations account for 74 per cent of revenues.

According to the ICICI Securities report, the company has major strengths in the areas of anti-infective, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, pain management, biologicals and vaccines. It is ranked among the top five in India in most of these categories.

Currently, 16 of the company's brands are in the list of top 300 brands in India. The company has also developed a niche in the cosmetics business, with 4 per cent of the current revenues coming from that segment.

The company has restructured the operations of German Remedies, leading to a significant improvement in its operations. It acquired German Remedies in 2001 and subsequently merged it.