Supriya Lifescience Ltd (SLL) is expanding its operations in a big way. The Mumbai-headquartered company, known for its leadership positions in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) for therapies such as anti-histamines, anti-allergic medicines, vitamins, anti-asthmatics and anaesthetics, is strengthening its portfolio in a major manner. In the last couple of years, the company has doubled its manufacturing capacity to around 1,050 KLPD, even as it is now all set to enter the finished formulations space, catering to the growing contract manufacturing (CMO/CDMO) segment. SLL has launched its new formulation facility in Ambernath near Mumbai, which is expected to be commercialised soon. The company has carried out a capex of around Rs300 crore across these two projects.
In fact, from being a pure-play API manufacturer and supplier in the regulated pharmaceutical market, the company, founded way back in 1987, is diversifying its offerings, wherein around 20 per cent of its revenue will come from finished formulations in the coming years. SLL has already initiated talks with quite a few multinationals in markets such as the EU, the US, Canada, Latin America, the Middle East and Russia for CMO/CDMO opportunities.
Apart from this, the company has also set up a CMO business within its API vertical, through which it has already entered into a 10-year strategic contract manufacturing (CDMO) partnership with a leading European company – DSM-Firmenich. Under the agreement, the company will be their exclusive supplier of vitamin B2 API. The project is expected to generate around R60-70 crore of revenue annually for SLL. In addition to this contract, the company has also identified two similar opportunities in the API and advanced intermediate space, along with several other potential opportunities. Its move to venture into the CMO/CDMO space is viewed as a strategic step to de-risk its overall business model, where it has been heavily dependent upon the relatively fluctuating API market. Moreover, the finished formulations business will fetch higher margins.
Backed by these initiatives, the company, having grown at a CAGR of around 20 per cent in the last 3 years, is looking to maintain this momentum and grow at a CAGR of around 20 per cent in the coming years. SLL is targeting a topline of around Rs1,000 crore in FY27 and thereafter looking to double it to around Rs2,000 crore in the next 4-5 years, from around Rs697 crore in FY25 and Rs570 crore in FY24. For the 9M2026 period, SLL reported revenue of Rs551 crore, up 8 per cent from Rs512 crore in 9M2025.
Going forward, the company, listed on the BSE and NSE, has also earmarked a capex of around Rs350 crore for a greenfield project in Patalganga near Mumbai. The project, currently at the design stage, will come up in a phased manner on a 30-acre land parcel. The company, aiming to put up large facilities for APIs as well as finished formulations, is looking to commission this project in the next 3-4 years.
“During the last couple of years, the company embarked on decisive initiatives that are likely to graduate it into a different revenue orbit while protecting its existing profitability. We believe that this interplay will kickstart a robust virtuous cycle of enhanced cash flows, a wider investable pool, accelerated asset building and increased production,” says Satish Waman Wagh, 70, Chairman & Executive Director, SLL.
Diversified offering
“The company is more broad-based today than ever. For a company that was once significantly invested in APIs, we are spreading our risk across formulations (especially anti-histamines and anaesthetics). We are now better placed to provide a solution combining APIs and formulations. We are deepening our presence in relatively under-crowded product niches with attractive realisations. We intend to market formulations through marketing arrangements with large market-facing pharmaceutical companies in less regulated markets. We intend to file ANDAs (Abbreviated New Drug Applications) to enter regulated markets with niche formulations,” adds Wagh, who founded the company in 1987 as a partnership firm – Supriya Chemicals – which initially manufactured textile chemicals. In 1993, the company launched its API facility in Lote Parshuram, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, and in 2008 it became a public limited company, renamed Supriya Lifescience Ltd. Thereafter, it continued adding API products to its portfolio, launching around two to three products every year.
Today, SLL is a cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practices)-compliant API manufacturing company with a leadership position across key and niche products. It is among the leading exporters of APIs in the anti-histamine, anaesthetic and anti-asthma segments, with exports accounting for around 85 per cent of its total revenue (Europe: 40 per cent; Asia: 30 per cent; and Latin America: 20 per cent). The company serves over 1,500 customers across more than 120 countries, reinforcing its status as a trusted global pharmaceutical partner.
More importantly, more than 55 per cent of its exports are targeted at regulated markets. Going ahead, the company is looking to expand its exposure to North America, which is currently contributing around 5-6 per cent. The company has recently taken additional steps for business expansion in North America as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
In fact, SLL, which set up its API manufacturing facility in 1993 with the production of chlorpheniramine maleate – a widely used first-generation anti-histamine API for treating allergies and cold symptoms – today commands around a 60 per cent share of this API in the global market, directly competing with China. Moreover, it also enjoys a distinct global leadership position in the anti-asthmatic API salbutamol sulphate, used for treating asthma.
“The next 3-4 years promise to be high-growth years. We are positioned to capitalise on emerging opportunities. Our enhanced capacity, which will be sufficient to support our revenue growth through 2027-28, serves as the operational foundation for sustained expansion. We are working on multiple CMO opportunities across API and finished formulation segments, reflecting our commitment to diversify our service offerings. With our new and improved R&D infrastructure, we are confident of adding around four products to our portfolio each year, ensuring sustained market relevance. Our entry into additional regulated markets and the anticipated commercialisation of our formulation plant represent growth catalysts that will drive our performance as well,” states Saloni Satish Wagh, Managing Director, SLL.
“The SLL model – where 85 per cent of revenues are derived from exports – makes us different. In the export market, sustainability, regulatory compliance and unwavering quality matter far more than a singular focus on price. That is why our export share consistently outpaces our domestic presence, where competition often drives margins lower. Looking ahead, our strategy remains steadfast: drive export-led growth through expanded registrations, deepen our penetration in regulated markets, and enhance our backward integration. We know that true leadership in global healthcare is measured not just by revenue, but by our ability to ensure quality, dependability and innovation for our partners and patients worldwide,” says Shivani Satish Wagh, Joint Managing Director, SLL.
The company has built a well-diversified basket of 40 niche APIs across 16 therapeutic segments, ranging from anti-histamines, anti-allergics and anaesthetics to anti-hypertensives, cardiovascular and anti-diabetic therapies. Of these, around 75 per cent of its products are also backward integrated into advanced intermediates, offering the company a clear-cut edge over its competition. Backward integration into intermediate manufacturing ensures better resource control, cost optimisation and greater resilience across market cycles. In fact, its integrated business model enables revenue growth while sustaining margins.
Credentials
Today, SLL, with around 600 employees, is a trusted supplier to prominent pharmaceutical companies such as Syntec Do Brasil LTDA, Haleon, Kenvue, Sanofi, GSK, Teva, CIPLA AT Planejamento E Desenvolvimento De Negocios Ltd, Acme Generics LLP, Akum Drugs and Mankind Pharma. Around 58 per cent of the company’s revenue is derived from its 10 largest customers.
As part of its ambitious growth strategy, SLL expanded its API manufacturing capacity by 55 per cent last year. It commissioned the state-of-the-art Module E production block at its site in Lote Parshuram, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, increasing the installed capacity from 597 KLPD to 932 KLPD. The facility spans 33,000 sq m across five therapy-based blocks with a combined reactor capacity of 932 KLPD. The facility holds accreditations from global regulatory bodies including the USFDA, EDQM, AIFA (Italy), TGA (Australia), KFDA (Korea), PMDA (Japan), NMPA (China), COFEPRIS (Mexico), ANVISA (Brazil) and Health Canada. Over 30 regulatory authorities have audited and approved SLL facilities.
The company’s finished formulation facility is now ready for commercial production. It has received WHO-GMP certification, while approvals from other global regulatory bodies are awaited. The company’s facility (capacity: 150 KLPD) is value-added and therapeutically unique. The site spans 5,000 sq m and will have multiple lines across injectables, tablets, capsules and inhalation dosages. It will have the capacity to produce one billion capsules and one billion tablets, as well as 50 lakh bottles per annum of liquid anaesthetics. Focus areas here will be ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), contrast media and multi-vitamins. At peak capacity, this facility is expected to generate revenues of around R500 crore, with margins higher than those generated from the manufacture of APIs.
“Our optimism related to the Ambernath facility is derived from the nature of the products we intend to manufacture. The company has charted out a pipeline of value-added niche products that account for relatively under-crowded spaces. The company’s extension into the area of value-added injectables is likely to address growing CMO demand. Besides, it will also manufacture tablets and capsules to enhance asset utilisation. We believe that the complement of these product lines will accelerate returns from our Ambernath investment, making it a critical driver of our overall profitability,” says the SLL chief.
SLL’s globally compliant facilities are supported by robust R&D, 11 CEPs, 21 USDMFs, 10 CADIFA Brazil, four NMPA China and several other global registrations. The company has secured more than 50 registrations in different countries, over 500 customer audit approvals and more than 50 ROW registrations.
The company has invested heavily in R&D, which has allowed it to build a strong basket of niche products. Consistent efforts are under way to develop new products, improve existing formulations, enhance drug delivery systems and expand product applications. These efforts are aimed at adding three to four products every year in the coming years. The R&D laboratory at Lote Parshuram spans 800 sq m and is equipped with 20 fume hoods. This facility focuses on lifecycle management, backward integration, new product development and CMO/CDMO opportunities.
The new Ambernath R&D laboratory is now fully operational, supporting the next phase of the company’s expansion and innovation strategy. To deepen capabilities, SLL has set up a new dosage-forms R&D facility that will support the development of tablets, capsules, liquids and sterile forms. This initiative is being integrated with advanced analytical laboratories and complex API synthesis infrastructure to ensure greater operational efficiency and accelerated innovation. The company’s R&D is concentrated on complex formulations and high-growth therapeutic segments (anti-diabetics and anaesthetics), delivering value-driven healthcare solutions to global markets.
The R&D division, where a team of more than 60 scientists primarily focuses on API and formulation process development across the value chain, is approved by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, and has also partnered with internationally acclaimed educational institutions such as the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.
“The company envisions transforming into a fully integrated pharmaceutical entity, spanning the entire value chain – from API development and advanced manufacturing to the production of finished dosage forms. This end-to-end integration is aimed at streamlining operations, strengthening quality assurance and enhancing overall operational efficiency. Through this strategic evolution, the company seeks to better serve its customers, foster innovation and reinforce its competitive advantage in the marketplace,” says Saloni Wagh, who, along with her sister Shivani, joined their father’s business in 2014. Under their father’s guidance, both sisters have played a pivotal role in steering the company’s growth in recent years.
A first-generation entrepreneur, the SLL chief, with over three decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, has built the company into an internationally recognised API manufacturer. He played a significant role in shaping India’s chemical and pharmaceutical exports as Chairman of CHEMEXCIL for over 24 years. He has also worked closely with government bodies to strengthen export frameworks, facilitate regulatory compliance for Indian companies in global markets and advocate policy reforms benefiting exporters. His contributions to industry, research, exports and entrepreneurship have been recognised through multiple national and international awards.
Saloni, a PhD in Chemistry, joined the company in a marketing role, where she gained first-hand insights into customer needs and market trends. Her experience across production, quality control and R&D has shaped her leadership approach, balancing scientific expertise with strategic vision. Under her guidance, the company has significantly scaled its production capacity, emerging as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of antihistamines. She is also leading Supriya Lifescience’s diversification into new therapeutic areas, including anti-anxiety, anti-depressant and anti-diabetic medications, ensuring a future-ready product portfolio.
On the other hand, Shivani has a diverse background in sales, marketing, business development and customer collaborations across global markets. She completed her Bachelor of Management Studies from Mumbai University. She holds a double master’s degree – a Master’s degree in Commerce from Mumbai University and a Master’s degree in International Business Management from Manchester Business School, University of Manchester (UK), with specialisation in marketing and foreign trade.
Robust business model
Backed by its strong leadership team, the company is all set to commence its next phase of growth, led by a robust business model with a more diversified offering. The company has proven its mettle in the API and intermediate space, building up a basket of niche products. It derives strength from the fact that it focuses on high-demand areas such as cold, cough and influenza while expanding into high-growth segments such as anti-depressants, anaesthetics and anti-diabetics – well aligned with changing demographics and lifestyle patterns.
In the last few years, SLL has expanded its API capacity significantly and is now gearing up to foray into finished formulations in order to explore growing opportunities in the CMO/CDMO segment. Within APIs as well, it has set up a separate CMO business, which will further bolster its position in the API space where it commands a strong position in multiple therapies. The company has initiated discussions with companies, ranging from big pharma to innovator companies, to work as a partner.
Looking ahead, the company is targeting a higher growth trajectory of 30-35 per cent over the next 4-5 years in its CDMO business. A key growth driver here will be the upcoming nasal spray-based inhalation CMO opportunity, currently under development, with the necessary infrastructure already incorporated within the Ambernath facility. In parallel, the company is also advancing its R&D efforts in peptide development, including work on high-potential molecules such as Semaglutide – used to improve blood sugar control in Type 2 diabetes, manage weight and reduce cardiovascular risk.
All said and done, what sets the company apart is its unique business model, where a significant portion of its operations is backward integrated into intermediate manufacturing, ensuring better resource control, cost optimisation and greater resilience across market cycles.