Serum Institute of India Ltd has agreed to acquire a defunct unit of Nanotherapeutics Inc., a Czech Republic-based injectable polio doses maker, for €72 million (Rs 521 crore or $78 million).
Pune-based Serum, the world’s largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold, said the deal will help it increase production capacity of polio vaccines four-fold to more than 200 million doses by 2019 and make it the largest injectable polio vaccine maker in the world.
This is the company’s first overseas takeover since it acquired Dutch vaccine maker Netherlands Vaccine Institute’s a production unit called Bilthoven Biologicals.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute, was cited in media reports as saying that the company plans to invest €30-40 million more to upgrade the Czech unit and make it functional over the next two to three years.
Serum has paid about €45 million for the acquisition and will pay the remaining over the next year.