Hikal’s First Quarter Sales Up 63%
22 July 2008 Mumbai-based contract manufacturing services group Hikal has seen first quarter sales increase by almost two-thirds over the same period last year, due to supply and manufacturing contracts signed during fiscal 2008.
Since July 2007, the company has entered into active ingredient (ai) supply agreements with US firm’s Alpharma and Pfizer, as well as the crop-science division of Germany’s Bayer, according to Pharma.com. The largest contributor to the rise in sales was from Hikal’s pharmaceutical business – concentrated on active pharmaceutical ingredients – while agrochemical and crop protection products contributed only slightly over last year, despite the additional income from the more recent Bayer contract.
That should be due to change, however, with Hikal’s newly inaugurated multipurpose agrochemical facility, which will produce ais for crop protection products, including those covered by its agreement with Bayer. Hikal also announced in early July 2008 that the International Finance Cooperation (IFC), part of the World Bank group, is to invest US $15 million in the firm as part of an equity purchase. The funds will be used to increase capacity and production efficiency at Hikal’s existing manufacturing facilities in Jigani, Panoli and Taloja.
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