Denmark based Fertin Pharma to open first medicated gum manufacturing plant in India

Fertin Pharma AS, part of the Danish pharma-to-confectionary Bagger-Sorensen Group, is entering India by establishing a greenfield manufacturing plant in Goa. A world leader in gum-based anti-smoking products and candies, Fertin will open its new India plant — its first manufacturing facility outside Europe — for nicotine chewing gum in November to cater to its clients in the entire Asian and other emerging markets.

Fertin India Private Limited is opening the first medicated chewing gum manufacturing plant in India by November 2015 in Goa. The medicated gum will be used as a Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) for tobacco de-addiction in the country. An R&D-facility in Mumbai which received EU GMP accreditation was set up in 2011 and currently employs about 25 people.

The company’s plant in Denmark located at Vejle has a production capacity of 5000 tonnes a year and currently caters to mainly US and European markets. The tobacco cessation products from the company’s Goa plant are expected to be rolled into the Indian market by early next year.

Primarily a B2B manufacturer, Fertin India has partnerships with MNCs like Novartis, GSK and Perrigo. A part of the 100 years old Denmark head-quartered Bagger-Sorensen group, the company is a fully owned subsidiary of Fertin Pharma A/s, Denmark and a major player within NRT.

The company plans to take leadership in the Indian medicated gums market through their Goa facility within 5 years. The market size which currently stands at about Rs. 70 crore is growing fast and is expected to reach Rs. 250- 300 crore by 2020. Spread over 22000 square feet, the highly automated plant with a capacity of 300 MT will begin with manufacturing about 50 MT in the first year of production in 2016. It is currently Schedule M compliant and will move to WHO GMP and other relevant compliances for export markets shortly.

Fertin’s NRT chewing gum products are based on their unique expertise in gum base and extruded gum technologies. This enables Fertin to have very strong technological capabilities in the development and manufacture of medicated gums not only for nicotine cessation, but also for many other therapeutic categories which are under development. As a delivery system for active pharmaceutical ingredients such as nicotine, chewing gum exhibits several inherent benefits that set it aside from other dosage forms.

The plant which will produce high quality medicated gums for the Indian market is also poised to be the hub for future exports to South East Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), CIS countries and LATAM markets.

Fertin Pharma, produces more than one-third of the nicotine chewing gums currently on the global market. The company is based in Vejle, Denmark, where it employs a majority of its 580 employees. The factories in Vejle are state-of-the-art, and approved by the FDA and the Danish Medicines and Health Authority. Fertin Pharma is not only connected to Denmark, as it has factories and operations in many countries, including an R&D-facility in Mumbai, which opened in 2011. The R&D facility currently employs about 25 people and received EU GMP accreditation in October 2014.