Mumbai-based pharma company Lupin Ltd will acquire up to 100 per cent stake in Tokyo’s I’rom Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd (IP), an integrated Japanese healthcare provider, for an undisclosed sum, the company has disclosed in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The acquisition will be done through Lupin’s Japanese subsidiary Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd, which it had acquired in 2007.
Incorporated in 1947, I’rom Pharma (a subsidiary of I’rom Holdings Co Ltd or IH), is a specialty injectables manufacturer with revenue of 5.3 billion yen or Rs 354 crore in FY2010-11. Incidentally, injectable products enjoy a significant usage in the diagnosis procedure combination (DPC) hospital segment across Japan. Currently, there are more than 1,400 DPC hospitals in that country, covering more than 35 per cent of hospital beds nationwide and presenting a market size worth $11 billion.
“Japan is a growth market of strategic focus for Lupin. IP’s strong presence in the DPC hospital segment in Japan, through its line of injectable products, is an ideal fit with our existing oral business portfolio in Japan. The acquisition will not only strengthen our presence in the Japanese market but would also provide for a stronger growth footprint in this priority market,” Vinod Dhawan, president (Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America) at Lupin commented on the acquisition.
“The acquisition will help allow Kyowa and IP to leverage their strengths and competencies to create meaningful synergies that would augment Lupin’s growth in the Japanese generics market,” said Ray Tsunoda, president and representative director of Kyowa said.
In a separate development, Kyowa has entered into a strategic alliance involving comprehensive operational support to be provided by IH’s site management organisation (SMO) subsidiary I’rom Co., Ltd, for clinical studies conducted by Kyowa for the Japanese market.
Lupin’s shares were trading at Rs 446 per unit on the BSE at 1.32 pm, down 0.15 per cent from its previous close.
The deal marks Lupin’s second acquisition in Japan after it bought Kyowa in 2007 for an undisclosed sum. The company offers generic drugs and drug delivery systems, and its product range includes psychiatric/CNS, circulatory systems, respiratory and alimentary tract products.
Also, In June this year, Lupin acquired the worldwide rights for Australian therapeutic oil and ointment brand Goanna from Aspen Pharmacare Holdings for an undisclosed sum.
