By K.T. Jagannathan

Chennai, July 17: With assets, process and marketing arrangements in place, Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is readying for a slew of product launches in regulated markets post-patent expiry over the next three years that will see a substantial addition to its sales number and cash register.

From mono-therapeutic company concentrated in cephalosporin APIs (active product ingredients), Orchid has, in the past few years, had invested heavily into production of other penicillin-based antibiotics, carbapenems and non-antibiotics. ``Investments in asset creation have been completed, the processes are in place, all our plants are approved and marketing tie-ups have been firmed up,'' said K. Raghavendra Rao, Managing Director.

In an interview with The Hindu, he said with some `big ticket items' going off patent anytime now, he said Orchid was advantageously positioned to gain early advantage by training its focus on regulated markets in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Mr. Rao said Orchid had just launched Cefepime, a cephalosporin-based antibiotic, in the U.S. market. Orchid is now the lone generic producer of this antibiotic. The patent for the base molecule for this product expired in March this year. ``Base patent expiry is good enough for us to launch a product now,'' he said.

The company is also set to launch another product in this category - Cefdinir, the patent for which expired recently. ``This is a $1 billion product,'' he said. Three players have already entered this product space and Orchid will be the fourth. Mr. Rao was confident that Orchid would get the US FDA nod for the combination product - Tazobactam and Piperacillin, penicillin-based injectible antibiotics. The U.S.FDA (Federal Drug Authority) had already approved Orchid's facility, he said. The company has also lined up a series of products in the carbapenems. Orchid is targeting Meropenem, Imipenem and others. Currently, orchid is the lone producer of Meropenem in the country and is selling it in unregulated markets.

Dwelling on the non-antibiotic category, Mr. Rao said Orchid had made filings for 12 products. It has already launched one product - Terbifinine in the U.S. market. ``We are planning to launch five to six products each year in this category,'' he added. Mr. Rao said Orchid would focus on the launch of cephalosporin and penicillin-based injectibles in the current year. The next financial year would see the company expand its presence in the European markets and enter into carbapenems. He expected the first filing in non-antibiotic category to happen in 2009-10. The year would also see Orchid making an entry into the Japanese market, he added.