Actavis Acquires SSCL's API Division in India

Hafnarfjordur, Iceland (Feb. 13)-Generic drug manufacturer Actavis (www.actavis.com)  acquired the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) division of Sanmar Specialty Chemicals, Ltd. (SSCL), a subsidiary of the Sanmar Group (Chennai, India.) The acquisition price was not disclosed.

SSCL’s API division provides Actavis with a wholly owned, FDA-approved facility and the ability to develop and manufacture its own APIs, the single largest cost component in its manufacturing structure, said Actavis.

SSCL’s API facility, located at Alathur, near Chennai, supplies APIs to international pharmaceuticals companies, mostly in Europe and the United States. The facility currently manufactures 15 products and employs roughly 70 people. Actavis will continue the ongoing third-party business of the Alathur API unit.

Also, as part of this acquisition Actavis entered into a service agreement with SSCL to provide Actavis with API research and development services at SSCL’s research facilities. This is in addition to the wholly owned API development center set up by Actavis in Bangalore, which is already in operation. Actavis now has a total of 30 API projects under development in India.

“This acquisition strengthens our position in India, providing us with superior backward integration through our leading CRO business, Lotus, and our API and finished-dose development and manufacturing,” said Robert Wessman, president and CEO of Actavis, in a company statement. “We foresee that both development and manufacturing of API will become an increasing part of our business. At the same time, we have improved our ability to further reduce manufacturing costs and provide additional support for our growing business across Europe and the US for solid dose manufacturing.”