P

ublicly listed firm PT Kalbe Farma Tbk, Indonesia’s largest pharmaceutical company, has allocated Rp 700 billion (US$77 million) in capital expenditures to finance expansion projects, a company executive says.

Kalbe director Vidjongtius said on Friday that the firm had allocated Rp 200 billion to ramp up production capacity of its over-the-counter (OTC) medicine factories in Cikarang, West Java, which produced the country’s most popular antacid, Promag, and in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, which produces liquid medicines.

“We started the expansion late last year and it will be completed by the end of this year. Hopefully, the new production lines can start operations during the first quarter of 2013,” he told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

Vidjongtius said that following the capacity upgrade, the OTC medicine plant in Cikarang would double production to around 200 million tablets per month. However, he did not disclose the production capacity at the Pulogadung plant.

Vidjongtius said that Kalbe would also disburse around Rp 200 billion in new capital spending to fund the development of its under-construction plant designed to produce cancer treatment drugs in Pulogadung.

The plant, set to finish construction next year, would be able to produce 5 to 10 million units of injection medicines per month once commencing full operations in the first quarter of 2014, he said.

In addition to the expansion of its manufacturing facilities, Kalbe also planned to spend Rp 150 billion to expand its distribution centers and branches.

“We will open three new regional distribution centers — in Medan, Palembang and Makassar — to add to the two existing centers in Jakarta and Surabaya, in addition to at least new three branches; the locations for which are still being surveyed,” he said, adding that Kalbe would also enlarge existing branches in Batam, Jambi, Denpasar and Pontianak.

According to Vidjongtius, the company will soon operate its generic medicines plant in Cikarang as construction had already been completed. It is slated to produce between 70 million and 80 million tablets of generic drugs, including antibiotics and neurological drugs.

Established in 1996, Kalbe has exported its products in six key markets in Asia, apart from holding the dominant position in the domestic pharmaceutical market.

Kalbe booked net profits of Rp 1.46 trillion in 2011, a 14 percent increase from a year earlier. The surge came on the back of sales worth Rp 10.9 trillion, a 6.7 percent jump from 2010.

The firm targets sales rising by 15 to 20 percent in 2012 to Rp 13 trillion, while it’s operating profit margin is anticipated to spike by around 15 percent.

The country’s overall pharmaceutical market is estimated to surge by 12.6 percent to an estimated Rp 46 trillion this year.