?We hope to commission Mohali unit this year?

FE spoke to Atul Sobti, CEO, Ranbaxy, immediately after the company announced its quarterly results

Ranbaxy and Daiichi Sankyo have maintained that they are working with the US FDA. You have said that Ranbaxy has already sent a “corrective action plan” to the US FDA and a reply is expected ?very soon?. What is the status on the Paonta sahib facility?

We have cooperated and continue to cooperate on every aspect. We have sent the corrective action plan to US FDA as per the regulator?s requirement and are awaiting the reply. It could arrive any time now, it could well be later this month.

What is the update on the other site, Dewas, the second site from which US has banned Ranbaxy?s products?

On the Dewas facility, currently the ball is in our court. We have to seek re-inspection from the US FDA for the facilities at the site. Once the US FDA visits the site and re-inspects the facilities, there should be no problems.

How do you plan to reverse the dipping sales in the largest drug market, the US?

We are working at undoing the impact of the damage. We should be able to commission a new facility in Mohali by the end of the year. We have also sought the US FDA approval for the same. Mohali being located in a SEZ, we would also be able to avail taxation benefits. Also we have shifted part of the product portfolio from our India-based sites to the Ohm facilities based in USA.

Which of the products have you shifted to Ranbaxy?s New Jersey-based facilities and hasn?t it had an adverse effect on your margins?

The information on which of our products have we shifted out is sensitive and we wouldn?t like to divulge that.

On the impact on margins, despite high labour cost in USA, the difference in margins on a net-net basis isn?t significant. It?s marginal.

Are you looking at bringing products from Daiichi?s portfolio to the Indian market or markets where Daiichi is not present?

We would look at bringing atleast the top five Daiichi products.

Are you considering rationalizing more of assets? What’s the status on the facility in Bucharest?

We have already exited the Bucharest facility. We have closed it and the revenue impact on that account is nominal.

When do you see things improving for you in US?

Overall, we should be able to give you some good news in next three to four months time. A lot will depend on how things shape up at Paonta Sahib and Dewas. Our performance in filing ANDAs has been poor last year, at 50% of our ususal performance. This year at least we should be able to file 80% of our usual performance.