Lupin acquires 21 products from Japan's Shionogi

The Dollar Business Bureau

Pharmaceutical major Lupin Ltd has entered into the branded pharma market of Japan by acquiring 21 long-listed products from Japanese company Shionogi & Co Ltd, through its arm Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry Co Ltd.

As per the terms of deal, Kyowa Pharmaceutical will start booking sales of the 21 products post December 1, 2016. Shionogi will get 15.4 billion yen (around $150 million) from Kyowa Pharmaceutical. 

The deal is subject to various conditions and regulatory permissions that include transferring of marketing authorisation of the 21 products to Kyowa.

“With the aim to grow worldwide as a drug discovery-based pharma company, Shionogi is utlising its resources on major areas of marketing and therapeutic, whereas continuing to develop innovative drugs to help future growth and to enhance its business operations. As a part of this strategy, the company would sell 21 long-listed products to the Lupin Ltd’s Japanese subsidiary - Kyowa,” Lupin said in a statement.

Kyowa Pharmaceutical is one of the Japan’s top 10 generic firms and a market leader in the field of central nervous system (CNS), renowned for its brand Amel, apart from other generic pharma products. After this deal, Kyowa will rank 6th among the generic firms in Japan. 

Commenting on the deal, Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director, Lupin Ltd, said, “The acquisition marks Lupin’s foray into the Japanese branded market in-line with our aspirations to build and strengthen our specialty business globally. The new branded product portfolio has a strong fit with Lupin’s Kyowa business, as it adds depth and reach to its current CNS portfolio and other therapy areas.” 

The 21 products, which are acquired, cover therapy fields such as central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular, oncology and anti-infectives, and had collective sales of 9,400 million yen (about $90 million) on the basis of NHI price. 

Dr Fabrice Egros, President - Asia Pacific & Japan, Lupin Ltd, said that the deal supports the future growth plans of the company and the brands have strong synergies with Kyowa’s prevailing products portfolio that will help Lupin to create a broad base of customers across the major therapies.