Synbiotics eyes double revenue amid black fungus crisis; expert weighs in on opportunities for small pharma firms

Pharmaceutical firm Synbiotics Limited, a subsidiary of Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises (ASE), has ramped up its manufacturing capacity to produce active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) Amphotericin B as it is the only Indian manufacturer of the drug used in the treatment of black fungus.

“Amphotericin B is one of the most powerful anti-fungal products in the world. It is an API that we make in our dedicated plant for over 40 years. With the mucormycosis crisis coming into India, the demand for this product has really shot up,” Mohal Sarabhai, managing director (MD) of Synbiotics told CNBC-TV18.

Sarabhai said that the firm plans on increasing the production of the active pharmaceutical ingredient 70-75 Kg per month by June. “One kilogram of this API, the Amphotericin B can manufacture about 18,000 vials,” he said, adding that this would help in the treatment of around 18,000 black fungus infected patients once they supply the drug to the finish doses formulators.

As the small pharma firm takes centre stage during the mucormycosis crisis in the country, Sarabhai said Synbiotics’s revenue, which was at Rs 16 crore, would double or more than double this year depending on how the fungal infection situation pans out.

Market expert Prakash Diwan weighed in on the performance of small pharma companies and said, “What Amphotericin has done to Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises is a magical transformation that would happen to a lot of businesses within the space.”

Citing the example of Laurus Labs, which has multiple verticals working towards getting market share, Diwan said, “operating leverage is something which will create a growth path for the company.”

He added, “I would go in for something like that rather than waiting for one-off disruptive kind of potential optionality. The expert also spoke about Alembic Pharmaceutical, which he said, has done so much work around R&D for building a strong pipeline that as and when things open up and unfold, that is the stage where this company will see all the benefits of investments they have made.