Slayback Pharma, LLC, a privately held pharmaceutical company founded by a former executive of Indian drugmaker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, has raised $60 million (around Rs 400 crore) from global investment firm KKR, it said in a statement.
The financing will help Slayback accelerate the development of its portfolio of generic and specialty pharmaceutical products, KKR said in the statement.
Slayback was founded in 2011 by Ajay Singh, who was vice president of strategy, portfolio and business development at Dr. Reddy's for its North American generics division, a spokesperson of the firm said.
The firm works closely with active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) suppliers and contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) based in India (though not exclusively), in addition to employing formulation and technical staff in India, the spokesperson said without divulging further details.
As part of the transaction, Ali Satvat and Neel Varshney from KKR will join Slayback's board.
"In addition to being a highly regarded long-term capital partner, KKR with its legacy in the pharmaceutical space and its experience in scaling businesses will help Slayback achieve the next level of growth," said Ajay Singh who is also CEO of Slayback.
KKR said the investment is part of the firm's healthcare strategy.
The investment in Slayback builds upon KKR's experience in the pharmaceutical value chain, including investments in Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Coherus BioSciences, BridgeBio Pharma, PRA Health Sciences, Capsugel and Walgreens Boots Alliance, it said.
In July 2016, China's Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd said will acquire a majority stake in Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma Ltd for up to $1.26 billion (Rs 8,440 crore), giving KKR an exit.
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