Indian Pharma's Big Leap

Nagpur based Zim Laboratories is a non descript drug company with turnover in excess of Rs 250 crore. In the past two decades, Zim has been silently working on developing innovative and differentiated pharmaceutical products or specialty generic complex drugs. Recently, it developed a new product, Orally Disintegrating Strip (ODS) formulations up to 100 milligram, based on a patented oral thin film technology. These films, when placed on the tongue, adhere to the tongue mucosa and disintegrate almost instantaneously. There are only some 10 companies across the globe with this technology, but they are not able to grab a big share of the market due to prohibitive manufacturing costs. "With our technology, we can offer thin films at a price near to that of an oral tablet," says Anwar S. Daud, Managing Director of Zim Laboratories.

Zim is in advanced stages of further researching the product to launch thin films with fixed dose combinations and liquid drugs, 3D printed