Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited is an Indian multinational

pharmaceutical company The pharmaceutical industry is a Medicine, medical industry that discovers, develops, produces, and markets pharmaceutical goods such as medications and medical devices. Medications are then administered to (or Self-medicate, self-administered b ...

headquartered in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

. It is a producer of generic

therapeutic drugs Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...

and engaged in contract clinical research and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

. It has 22 manufacturing plants, 17 in India and the rest in Greece, United Kingdom and Mexico. In the financial year 2019, 69% of the company's revenue came from international markets while 31% came from India. Its market presence is in more than 100+ countries.

History

Etilaam 1mg Tablet by Intas Pharmaceuticals

The company was founded by a Jain pharmacist Hasmukh Chudgar in 1977 and was incorporated in 1985. In 2013, ChrysCapital acquired 16.14% stake in the company, and in 2015, ChrysCapital subsequently sold 10.13% to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

-based

Temasek Holdings Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited ( ) is a Singaporean State ownership, state-owned multinational investment firm. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek has a net portfolio of US$288 billion (S$389 billion) as of 2024. Headquartered at Orchard ...

and in 2017, it further diluted 3.01% stake to Capital International. Though, by May 2020, ChrysCapital bought back Capital International's stake. Currently, the Chudgar family, owns 83.85% stake in the company, with 10.13% being held by Temasek Holdings, and 6.02% by ChrysCapital. As of March 2021, the company is operating 19 manufacturing facilities globally - 13 in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, 5 in the UK, and 1 in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The company has set up a new manufacturing facility in PHARMEZ (

Bavla Bavla is a town, and a municipality, in Ahmedabad district, in the state of Gujarat, India. Demographics As of the 2009 India census, Bavla had a population about 45,000, with males constituting 53% of the population and females 47%. Bavla had ...

, near

) with capacity to manufacture and export more than 1 billion solid dosages and 5 million

injectables An injection (often and usually referred to as a "shot" in US English, a "jab" in UK English, or a "jag" in Scottish English and Scots) is the act of administering a liquid, especially a drug, into a person's body using a needle (usually a hypo ...

Divisions

Biologics Unit (formerly, Intas Biopharmaceuticals)

In 2000, an independent biotechnology division of Intas Pharmaceuticals was incorporated as Intas Biopharmaceuticals by Urmish Chudgar, a

hematologist Hematology ( spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the production ...

. Later in 2012–13, the subsidiary was merged with the parent company Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited. This division is involved in development and manufacturing of

biosimilar A biosimilar (also known as follow-on biologic or subsequent entry biologic) is a biologic medical product that is almost an identical copy of an original product that is manufactured by a different company. Biosimilars are officially approved ...

products based on

recombinant DNA Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules formed by laboratory methods of genetic recombination (such as molecular cloning) that bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be fo ...

and

monoclonal antibodies A monoclonal antibody (mAb, more rarely called moAb) is an antibody produced from a Lineage (evolution), cell lineage made by cloning a unique white blood cell. All subsequent antibodies derived this way trace back to a unique parent cell. Mon ...

. The company underwent an EU GMP (

Good Manufacturing Practice Current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) are those conforming to the guidelines recommended by relevant agencies. Those agencies control the authorization and licensing of the manufacture and sale of food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutic ...

) audit in December 2006 to seek approval for a clinical trial of its

Filgrastim Filgrastim, sold under the brand name Neupogen among others, is a medication used to treat low neutrophil count. Low neutrophil counts may occur with HIV/AIDS, following chemotherapy or radiation poisoning, or be of an unknown cause. It may ...

in Europe and was certified as EU GMP-compliant in April 2007, becoming the first company in India to receive such certification. In 2015, the company launched its first biosimilar product, Filgrastim in Europe, to treat patients with advanced

HIV infection The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a preventable disease. It can ...

and immune system disorders such as

neutropenia Neutropenia is an abnormally low concentration of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) in the blood. Neutrophils make up the majority of circulating white blood cells and serve as the primary defense against infections by destroying bacteria ...

. Apart from EU GMP certification, the company has approvals from MCC

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ), is a Regional integration, regional, intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Ba ...

(GCC),

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and several other national health authorities for its manufacturing facility and products.

Subsidiaries

Accord Healthcare

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-headquartered Accord Healthcare is a fully-owned subsidiary of Intas Pharmaceuticals, which deals with large-scale generic pharmaceuticals across Europe and North America markets. It also manages an American R&D unit which is located at

Research Triangle Park Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States; it occupies in North Carolina and hosts more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers. It is owned and managed by the Research Triangle Foundation, a private non-profi ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. As of 2018, the company has approval for 89

Abbreviated New Drug Application An Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) is an application for a U.S. generic drug approval for an existing licensed medication or approved drug. The ANDA is submitted to FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Office of Generic Drugs, ...

s and is selling 255 dosing presentations.

Acquisitions

Teva Pharmaceuticals (UK & Ireland)

In 2016, Intas acquired the assets of

Teva Pharmaceuticals Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (also known as Teva Pharmaceuticals) is an Israeli multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical company. Teva specializes primarily in generic drugs, but other business interests include branded-drug ...

in the UK and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

for

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

764 million.

Actavis (UK & Ireland)

In 2017, the company's Accord Healthcare announced acquisition of Actavis UK Ltd. and Actavis Ireland Ltd from

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (also known as Teva Pharmaceuticals) is an Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company. Teva specializes primarily in generic drugs, but other business interests include branded-drugs, active pharmaceutical ...

, for an enterprise value of £603 million. The deal included a portfolio of generic medicines and a manufacturing plant in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

Sanofi's Fawdon Plant

In 2018, Intas' subsidiary Accord Healthcare reopened

Sanofi Sanofi S.A. is a French Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. The corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 200 ...

's Fawdon plant in the UK for manufacturing generic effervescent medicines. The plant was acquired in 2015 after Sanofi closed the facility. This is the fifth manufacturing location for Accord in the country after Harrow, Barnstaple, Haverhill, and Didcot.

Controversies

In December 2020, the company along with

Mankind Pharma Mankind Pharma is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and Health care, healthcare product company, headquartered in Delhi. The company has products in therapeutic areas ranging from antibiotics, to gastrointestinal ...

received show-cause notices for selling anti-diabetic medicine without seeking price approval from

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is a government regulatory agency that controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) was constituted vide Government of India Resolutio ...

. In December 2022, upon compliance inspection by the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

, Intas plant in Sanand was found to be in violation of multiple laboratory practices and protocols, as revealed in a report from January 2023. Testing conducted on behalf of the American military by the laboratory

Valisure Valisure is an American independent laboratory focused on the testing the purity and safety of pharmaceutical drugs and consumer products. Valisure was founded in 2015 in New Haven. History Valisure was founded in 2015 by Adam Clark-Joseph and Da ...

revealed that generic

tacrolimus Tacrolimus, sold under the brand name Prograf among others, is an immunosuppressive drug. After Allotransplantation, allogenic organ transplant, the risk of organ Transplant rejection, rejection is moderate. To lower the risk of organ rejectio ...

manufactured by Intas was not a functional substitute for the brand name drug.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Pharmaceutical industry of Gujarat Pharmaceutical companies of Gujarat Indian brands Pharmaceutical companies of India Biotechnology companies of India Pharmaceutical companies established in 1977 Manufacturing companies based in Ahmedabad 1977 establishments in Gujarat