Deurali Janta Pharmaceuticals Limited (DJPL) is investing Rs600 million in manufacturing new injectable medicines and other drugs for liver and digestion problems. The company also plans to export the new drugs.

At a programme to mark the Silver Jubilee Year of its establishment, DJPL Executive Director Hari Bhakta Sharma said the company planned to invest big in these three segments as part of its plan to diversify its products.

The company will invest Rs100 million in “Divyam”—a new division that manufactures drugs for liver and gastritis problems—while Rs500 million will be put in the production of injectable medicines, according to Sharma. The WHO-GMP and ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified company, currently manufactures 300 types of drugs from its five production plants. It said its investment has grown to Rs1.20 billion from Rs5 million.

Sharma said they would also work on upgrading to newer technologies to ensure quality products. “Besides, we plan to cater to international markets,” he said.

DJPL also plans to initiate extraction of medicines from domestically-available herbal products. “We will promote the initiative as a national product development project,” he said.

DJPL holds a 4.7 percent share in the domestic market that is estimated at Rs27 billion and growing at an annual rate of 12 percent, the company claimed. A total of 355 companies have been selling their products in the local market, in which Nepali products hold 40 percent market share.

Stiff competition from foreign drug makers and disruption in the supply fuel and raw materials others some of the major challenges the sector has been facing.

Sharma said they were operating at just 55 percent capacities due to the crisis as a result of India’s unofficial trade embargo on Nepal.

“Due to these versions problems, DJPL’s production capacity has been come down to 33 percent, while the transactions have dropped by 50 percent,” he said.