Alembic has been rising steadily in the recent past on value buying following a slew of new developments in the company.

From a recent low of Rs 137 touched on 31 March, the Alembic stock has risen 32.51 per cent to Rs 181.55 on 9 May -- touching a 52-week high of Rs 194 . While the BSE Healthcare Index has risen 1.69 per cent in the same period, the 30-share BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) has lost 3.23 per cent. The average daily volumes on the Alembic counter have risen to around 5,000 shares from 2,500 shares during this period.

In a most recent development, Alembic entered into a contract research pact with Chiron Corporation, a research-based pharmaceutical company based in Emeryville, California, USA.

Chiron applies its advanced understanding of the biology of cancer and infectious disease to develop products from its platforms in proteins, small molecules and vaccines.

Earlier, Alembic said it was targeting a turnover of Rs 25 crore from its recently set up strategic business unit SynX for the 18-month period. SynX comprises Alembic's cardio and diabetic division, which currently accounts for Rs 6.5 crore (Rs 65 million) of the company's turnover. Alembic also said that plans are afoot for launching seven new products under SynX in the next few months. SynX already has a portfolio of nine products.

SynX caters to patients suffering from a condition called Syndrome X. Syndrome X is a term indicating the association of glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, hypertension and insulin resistance. These metabolic abnormalities are often associated with insulin resistance.

Alembic has already dedicated a 100-member team for the division. Products that have been brought under this division include nateglinide (Natelide), pioglitazone (Piolem), gliclazide (GLZ, GLZ Plus), glipiside (Glipy), metformin (Forminal, Forminal SR), alprazolam (Zocam) and vitamins and minerals (Zivinal CD).

Recently, Alembic has launched a fourth generation injectable cephalosporin, Cefepime, under the brand name of Cepime. Cepime is the only US FDA approved fourth generation cephalosporin, and its spectrum of activity is far superior to the existing third generation cephalosporin injections like Ceftazidime, Ceftriaxone and Cefotaxime.

Earlier, Alembic announced that it was launching a massive nationwide campaign to garner a wider reach in the rural market for its brand Althrocin, the largest antibiotic brand in India.

The campaign, which has been branded 'Hot Wheels', is focussing on doctors in interior areas. The company wants to penetrate into the rural market. Alembic will put up around 250 shows in different parts of the country, covering some 4,000 doctors. Besides northern states, the campaign will cover Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

Recently, the Gujarat-based company obtained permission from the Drugs Controller General of India to launch Cefatemet Pivoxil, an advanced antibiotic. It is the first company to launch the drug in India. Alembic expects to clock sales of Rs 6 crore in the first year since the launch of the drug.

Alembic has also signed an agreement with an Italian pharma company, Euroresearch, to bring the latter's products to India. The first product from Euroresearch that Alembic is in the process of launching is Gelfix Pads. It is also exploring the possibility of introducing more products from Euroresearch to the country, and is studying the product pipeline of the Italian firm in order to expand the scope of the alliance.

Under the recent restructuring exercise, the company also created five major strategic business units. It has also identified co-marketing through the franchisee route as a key strategy to optimise performance.

The five SBUs -- pharma, speciality, franchisee, generics, and over-the-counter -- will promote specific products.

In a bid to optimise the strength of its massive field force of over 1,200, the company also plans to float joint marketing alliances with other companies.

The company has also identified six therapeutic segments -- antibacterials/antibiotics, women's health, pain management, cough and cold preparations, anti-diabetic and cardiovascular as focus areas.

Alembic has also decided to make Mumbai the new hub for the marketing operations and it will be operating its specialty and OTC divisions from this office.

In September 2002, Alembic announced that it would launch a novel drug delivery system for Nimesulide shortly for treating pain. The NDDS has been named as Nimegesic OD and has been developed at the company's research centre. Nimuleside is a widely used non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug and is indicated for pain, fever and inflammation.

For the third quarter ended 30 December 2002, Alembic registered a 31.9 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 10.79 crore (Rs 8.18 crore) on a 2.8% fall in sales to Rs 121.49 crore (Rs 125.05 crore).

As on 31 December 2002, the promoters held 58.2 per cent stake in Alembic, while the public and institutions held 29 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively.

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