Hyderabad: Drug major Cipla said that it is acquiring two US-based pharma companies — InvaGen Pharmaceuticals and Exelan Pharmaceuticals — for $550 million (approx Rs 3,652 crore).
The two target companies are said to be owned by one of the promoters of Hyderabad-based pharma firm Hetero Drugs. The deal will help Cipla to acquire products in the areas of anti-infectives, diabetes and central nervous system disorders.
The deal, Cipla’s most significant acquisition since the buyout of South Africa's Medpro two years ago, marks a delayed effort to build manufacturing presence in the United States, where most of Indian drug makers have already invested.
As a result of Friday’s deals, Cipla will get its first manufacturing plant in the United States, 32 products already on the market and 30 pipeline products set to be approved for sale over the next four years.
Commenting on the development, Hetero said: “Hetero would like to clarify that the current sale of Invagen is the sale of strategic investment by the Hetero promoter group which has a different product portfolio than Hetero. InvaGen is not linked directly to the flagship companies — Hetero Drugs Ltd or Hetero Labs Ltd.”
