Mumbai: Domestic pharmaceutical firm Lupin Ltd has decided to restructure its board by inducting two heavyweight directors from multinational pharma companies. Lupin is also planning to licence out its new chemical entity, LL3348, to the US and European pharma firms.

Sources close to the development say Lupin''s move is based on the recent equity restructuring, offloading 12.5-per cent stake each to Citi Venture Capital Fund and New Bridge Capital. "As per the agreement with the Citi group and New Bridge, Lupin''s focus has to be changed with a thrust mainly on regulated markets. The appointment of new directors is the first step in this direction. Besides, the company is also appointing a multinational accounting firm as its auditor. The Lupin board will announce the new names after the board meeting scheduled this month."

Says Lupin chairman Dr D B Gupta: "We have plans to induct some new directors. Currently, the company board is discussing the subject. We are in talks with the US and Europe-based companies to licence out LL3348. We have just made a presentation to the US Food and Drugs Administration as part of filing the investigational new drug application with the international drug regulators. Talks are also on with various companies to licence out the molecule."

According to industry sources, 7 million Americans suffer from psoriasis, and physicians diagnose about 150,000-250,000 new cases every year. The cost of outpatient treatment for psoriasis is estimated at around $1.6 billion a year in the US.

Gupta says NCEs [new chemical entities] and NDDS [novel drug delivery system] research are other lucrative avenues looked at by the company. It will begin clinical trials of its new NCE for migraine.

Lupin is working on advanced drug delivery systems on generics, and new platforms for oral-controlled release systems on formulations to improve compliance. Likewise it has filed 110 patents to date of which 50 have been granted.

Although margins from tuberculosis (TB) business are on the decline, Lupin will continue with its manufacturing and research on new molecules. The company already has a dedicated facility at Pune for conducting anti-TB research.

Lupin is the world''s largest manufacturer of ethambutol with about 84-per cent of the global market share. It is also one of the leading producers of rifampicin in the world. The world TB market (institutional sales and private trading) is worth $800 million.