Ranbaxy and Sun Pharma merger approved
pharmafile | December 9, 2014 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing | FDA, Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma, cci, tamsulosin, tolterodine
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Sun Pharma’s acquisition of struggling drugmaker Ranbaxy, subject to conditions designed to preserve competition in the Indian market.
The $3.2 billion deal will create the largest pharmaceutical company in India, and the fifth largest generics manufacturer in the world.
Arun Sawhney, chief executive and managing director of Ranbaxy says: “The approval by CCI is a significant step forward. We are confident that post closure, the combined entity will enable sustainable long term growth and deliver immense value for all stakeholders.
“Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy are looking forward to progressing towards the completion of the transaction and will comply with the conditions laid down by the CCI within the specified time.”
The CCI approval is subject to the sale of seven of the companies’ products in markets where the merger could have an ‘appreciable adverse effect’ on competition.
The combined entity would control 90-95% of the market for urology drugs tamsulosin and tolterodine, for example, which the Commission called a ‘near monopoly’.
In a joint statement Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy say that products to be sold constitute less than 1% of their combined revenues.
FDA troubles
The go-ahead from the CCI will be a relief for the companies after a court delayed the deal earlier this year over allegations of insider dealing.
But Ranbaxy and Sun Pharma have also been facing their own separate problems in both India and abroad, with the companies feeling the brunt of the US’s increased scrutiny on Indian drug firms over the past year.
In March the US imposed a ban on imports from a division of Sun Pharma over manufacturing concerns, which was followed by the company recalling 400,000 bottles of anti-depressant and antihistamine from the country in May.
The FDA has also banned several of Rnabaxy’s products in America over similar safety concerns and fined the company $500 million for selling adulterated drugs.
Overall the US regulator has put more than 30 Indian manufacturing units on its ‘import alert’ list.
George Underwood
Related Content
Johnson & Johnson submits robotic surgical system for De Novo classification
Johnson & Johnson has announced the submission of its Ottava Robotic Surgical System for De …
MedPharm announces US FDA inspection of North Carolina manufacturing facility
MedPharm has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed a successful …
Rethinking oncology trial endpoints with generalised pairwise comparisons
For decades, oncology trials have been anchored to a familiar set of endpoints. Overall survival …
