Metered-dose inhaler maker Intech Biopharm Corp (益得生技) yesterday said it plans to invest NT$1 billion (US$33.33 million) over three years for capacity expansion.
The expansion will see the company’s annual capacity increase to 30 million units of metered-dose inhalers from 3 million to 5 million units now, Intech chairman Peter Lin (林智暉) said at the opening ceremony of the company’s new laboratory and office in Taipei.
Global demand for metered-dose inhalers is about 300 million to 500 million units a year, Lin said.
The company plans to build a factory on 2,000 ping (6,611m2) of land in Hsinchu County, close to a plant of Synmosa Biopharma Corp (健喬信元), Intech’s parent company.
Synmosa Biopharma, which makes prescription and over-the-counter drug and health products, holds a 49.98 percent stake in Intech, Lin said.
The company will use the NT$600 million it raised last year and another NT$600 million it raised in the first half of this year to finance the expansion, Lin said, adding that Intech would hold another round of fundraising early next year.
For the first six months of the year, the company posted revenue of NT$4.08 million, up 29.23 percent from a year ago, Intech said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Lin said revenue in the second half of the year would show higher growth because one of the company’s generic drugs, Duasma, which is used to treat asthma, and another generic drug, Synvent, which is used to treat bronchospasm, have been approved by the National Health Insurance Administration for sale in Taiwan.
The two drugs are expected to receive drug permits in China by the end of 2016, he said.
Last year, Intech reported losses of NT$17.18 million, a slight improvement from losses of NT$18.95 million a year earlier.
Liu said the company would strive to make a profit next year.
Intech began trading its shares on the Emerging Stock Market on Tuesday. The shares fell 10.38 percent to close at NT$86 yesterday.
Synmosa Biopharma will book an income of about NT$106 million next quarter by selling 1.65 million Intech shares below the initial public offering price of NT$75, Intech said.
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