Hyderabad, April 26: Omnicare Drugs India Pvt Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the UAE's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer Neopharma LLC, and ASKA Pharmaceuticals Co, a top pharma brand in Japan, will jointly set up a manufacturing facility in Visakhapatnam.

The two companies on Thursday announced entering into an agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) in India for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals to global market.

The focus of this state-of-the-art facility, which will come up by 2020 at the cost of Rs 350 crore, will be to manufacture oral solid dosage forms, oral liquids and topical preparations. It will have a peak capacity to manufacture 3 billion tablets a year, said a statement.

Neopharma and ASKA Pharma will be taking accreditation from all the major global health regulatory bodies.

The manufacturing plant under this JV agreement will be based at JN Pharma City in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam. The project will go on floor next month while the operations are likely to start by 2020.

The focus will be to manufacture products targeting chronic therapies in cardiovascular diseases, central nervous system and diabetes along with other drugs from key therapeutic classes targeting Japan and world market.

"The partnership will enable us to transfer skills and knowledge locally," said B.R. Shetty, Neopharma Founder and Chairman.

N. Suresh Kumar, Neopharma COO, said: "We are entering into a strategic relationship with ASKA Pharmaceuticals to accelerate growth in regulated markets of the US and the European Union and in the emerging markets Africa and Asia." 

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.

The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.

A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.

Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.

In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.

Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.

The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.

The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.