Natco Pharma ventures into agrichem space

​Hyderabad: Natco Pharma Limited on Friday said it is foraying into agrichemical space and initiated work on it green-field manufacturing facilities for producing niche products in that area in Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh.

According to a press release issued by the city-based drug maker, the facility will manufacture both agrichemical technical and formulation products. "Natco strongly believes that its pharma strength in chemistry coupled with an acumen towards selection of niche molecules would differentiate itself in the agrichemical space as well," it said.

Natco expects the facilities in to be commissioned by the end of 2019 with a total capital expenditure of Rs 100 crore. Recently, Rajeev Nannapaneni, vice-chairman and CEO of Natco, has indicated in an investor call that the company is investing money in Brazil, Canada and while it would continue to put money in the US, but that would be only for niche and complex generics. “I am not very keen on doing many abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) in the US,” he said.

Nannapaneni said Natco should move away from trying to put bulk of its resources in the US and focus more on emerging markets. This, he expects, would offset any decline in business in the US market. Historically, Natco has focused on complex generics in the US with injectables being the key.