Global healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd is investing Rs 1,000 crore in a new state-of-the-art pharmaceutical unit in Karnataka and is looking at enhancing its global pipeline in areas like respiratory drugs and vaccines in India.

The company is assessing new products from its global respiratory and vaccines pipeline and reviewing these for a possible launch in India. In addition, it is also reviewing complementary inorganic opportunities, adding that nearly 30 per cent of global pharmaceutical volumes sold by GSK is sold in the country.

The drug major is also upgrading its existing Nashik facility. In compliance with the GSK respiratory free strategy and the WHO requirement for the segregated manufacturing of hormonal products, GSK India has invested Rs 115 crore to construct a dedicated facility for the manufacturing of Eltroxin. The new eltroxin facility will be fully operational in 2018.

Six of the company's brands feature in the top-50 IPM brand list, namely Augmentin, Calpol, Zinetac, Betnovate-N, Betnovate-C and Synflorix. The company has also taken initiatives to re-engineer its business model to maintain competitive margins