Ahmedabad: The board of North Gujarat based Hester Biosciences has approved the setting up of an animal vaccine manufacturing unit in Tanzania. USE 1.80 crore project is expected to be commissioned in later half of calendar year 2020.

The company said that has units in India and Nepal in a statement said, it sees a very big potential in Africa for animal vaccines. More than 80% of the vaccines required in Africa are imported. Besides the common diseases, there are Africa-specific diseases, which currently remain unaddressed, thereby causing economical losses to poultry and livestock farmers.

 

The objective of the project according to company is to bridge the quantitative and qualitative gap between demand and supply of animal vaccines among small holder farmers as well as amongst the commercial farmers in the African continent. The project would mainly manufacture vaccines against Africa-specific diseases, besides having the capability as well as the capacity to manufacture a bigger range of vaccines against other commonly occurring animal diseases.

Rajiv Gandhi led Hester Biosciences in its statement further  said it is also in the process of creating a strong distribution network in Africa. This network will service the backyard farmers, which constitute a big percentage of the animal population in Africa, as well as the organized poultry & livestock farmers.

 

Project Highlights

Name of entity:	Hester Biosciences Africa Limited
Ownership:	Wholly-owned subsidiary of Hester Biosciences Limited India
Type of company:	An export Oriented Unit registered under the Companies Act 2002 of Tanzania
Export Commitment:	80% of the sales
Location:	Kibaha Coast Region, Tanzania
Capacity:	1.5 billion doses of vaccines
Revenue:	USD 30 million per year at full capacity
Employment generation:	200 direct & 300 indirect employees at full capacity

 

Project cost in USD: 

1	Land & Building	7,000,000
2	Plant & Machinery	7,000,000
3	Other Cost*	4,000,000
	Total	18,000,000

*Other Cost include preliminary & preoperative expenses, Technology adaption, Market survey and product Registration Costs

 

Source of Finance in USD:

1	Equity Share Capital	Hester Biosciences Limited	4,000,000
2	Secured Loan**	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, located in U.S.A.	10,000,000
3	Grant**	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, located in U.S.A.	4,000,000
Total			18,000,000

** Total Sanctioned Secured loan is USD 12,000,000. Disbursement of both the loan and the grant are pending the execution of definitive loan agreements and the company’s satisfaction of relevant closing conditions.

 

Timeline of Project:

• Completion of Construction: January 2020
• Validation of facility: April 2020
• First commercial batch: November 2020

 

Market size of Africa

In coming years, Africa is poised to become one of the major markets for animal vaccines. Tanzania, having the third largest herd of domestic livestock, will be the biggest market for animal vaccines in Africa.

Projected Sales for 4 years in USD:

Year	2021	2022	2023	2024
Projected Sales	1.5 Mn	4 Mn	7.5 Mn	11 Mn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The company in quarter 4 of FY 18 got 2 additional products registered in Egypt. Got the manufacturing licence in India for 2 diagnostics kits and completed the drug authorities audit from 2 African countries.

In FY 18, Hester reported a Net Sales of INR 135.25 Cr as compared to INR 125.58 Cr for the previous corresponding period, thereby registering a growth of 8%. Net Profit for 12 months ended 2018 is recorded at INR 30.56 Cr as against INR 24.94 Cr for the previous corresponding period, thereby registering a growth of 23%.

DeshGujarat