- Business
- Solara Active Pharma Sciences Limited manufactures and develops active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediates for the global pharmaceutical industry; it offers contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS), including process development, scale-up, and commercial production for complex molecules such as polymer-based APIs and injectables. The company produces over 60 commercial APIs across therapeutic categories including anti-infectives (such as Albendazole, Rifaximin, Flucytosine, Tioconazole), anti-inflammatories (Ibuprofen Arginine, Zileuton, Naproxen Base), antiemetics (Aprepitant), antiretrovirals (Dolutegravir), anthelmintics (Colchicine), cardiovascular agents (Citicoline Sodium), anti-Parkinson agents (Lurasidone Hydrochloride), and others like Disulfiram, Etomidate; its research and development pipeline features advanced molecules including Brivaracetam, Obeticholic acid, Patiromer Sorbitex Calcium, Rotigotine, Safinamide, Sapropterin dihydrochloride, Sugammadex, Tranexamic Acid, and Sucroferric Oxyhydroxide. Founded in 2017 through the merger of the API businesses of Strides Shasun and Sequent Scientific, Solara Active Pharma Sciences Limited maintains headquarters at 3rd & 4th Floor, Batra Centre, No. 28, Sardar Patel Road, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, with additional facilities including six manufacturing sites and two R&D centers primarily in India; it operates across more than 70 countries, focusing on regulated markets in North America, Europe, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and North Africa, where regulated sales account for 76% of business. In a major strategic shift, the company pivots from lower-margin non-regulated markets and plain Ibuprofen toward high-value regulated markets, Ibuprofen derivatives, and diversified non-Ibuprofen products; it plans to demerge its CRAMS and Polymers businesses into Synthix Global Pharma Solutions, an independent entity with 1000 KL capacity and current revenue of Rs 100 crores, targeting turnover growth to Rs 500 crores in 3-4 years while transferring Rs 200 crores of debt. Solara recently completed a rights issue to support debt reduction from Rs 1,000 crores in FY24 to Rs 776 crores, aiming for Rs 650 crores and a net debt/EBITDA ratio of 1.7-1.8x by Q1 FY27 with aspirations to become debt-free; despite FY25 challenges from Ibuprofen headwinds that caused missed guidance, it improved gross margins from 37.8% in FY22 to 51.5% and EBITDA margins to 16.5%, projecting 10% revenue growth and 15-20% EBITDA growth in FY26.