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Sun Pharma sacks 18 Ranbaxy executives

pharmafile | June 19, 2015 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing Daiichi, India, Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma, brett wells 

Sun Pharma has asked 18 executives to leave the company who were previously a part of Ranbaxy, the firm it acquired last year. 

This huge India-based restructuring move reflects one of the biggest culls of senior management seen in pharma seen for some time, and according to the Economic Times most of those dropped had been brought in after Daiichi Sankyo acquired Ranbaxy back in 2008. 

Daiichi became the second largest shareholder in the generics firm following Sun’s purchase of fellow Indian company Ranbaxy, which was owned by Daiichi. The Sun/Ranbaxy merger made the combined set-up the fifth-largest generics firm in the world, and the largest pharma outfit in India. 

The lay-offs are reportedly a result of the drugmaker struggling to integrate costs of Ranbaxy after the acquisition, and include: Indrajit Banerjee, president and CFO; Yugal Sikri, country head (India) Ranbaxy; Maninder Singh, VP marketing; Govind Jaju, global head, sourcing; Ratul Bahaduri, director-finance; among others.

Sun Pharma is said to have offered severance packages for the executives and allowed them to sell their stock options before departing the company. 

A spokesperson for the firm said the aims of the merger were to build a better organisation, and adds: “In order to make this happen, the company has made and will continue to make all efforts to utilise the total available talent in the most appropriate manner.

“If there are a few employees who could not be positioned appropriately, the organisation will make all attempts to handle the same in a fair, transparent and sensitive manner.” 

Ranbaxy has been making losses as most of its manufacturing units have been barred from exporting drugs to the US, due to quality issues highlighted by the FDA.

Both Sun and Ranbaxy have provoked the ire of regulators over the past year with escalating manufacturing woes, as well as claims of insider dealing that almost brought the merger to an end.

Brett Wells

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