Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said it had agreed to buy 14 prescription brands from Novartis AG in a $293 million cash deal that would expand the Indian company’s footprint into Japan.
“This acquisition marks Sun Pharma’s foray into the Japanese prescription market and provides us an opportunity to build a larger product portfolio in the future,” said Dilip Shanghvi, managing director of Sun Pharma.
Sun Pharma, based in Mumbai, and among the world’s largest generic drug companies, said a wholly owned subsidiary would be acquiring the portfolio of 14 “established prescription brands.” The company, in a statement, said the brands tackle medical conditions across a variety of therapeutic areas, without offering specifics.
The brands have combined annualized revenue of about $160 million, according to Sun Pharma.
Under the terms of the agreements, Novartis will continue to distribute the brands pending transfer of all marketing authorizations to the Sun Pharma subsidiary. The acquired brands will be marketed under the Sun Pharma label by a local marketing partner, which also would be responsible for distribution.
Sun Pharma said it hopes to tap into the $73 billion pharmaceutical market in Japan, which it said represents more than 7% of the total $1 trillion global pharma market.
Source : wsj.com