Mumbai-based Lupin Goes On Spending Spree

Lupin, a branded and generic-drug company based in Mumbai, India, entered into agreements to acquire Germany's Temmler Pharma, Russia's Biocom, and US-based Gavis in July 2015, following acquisitions of South Africa's Pharma Dynamics in March and Brazil's Medquimica in May.

Lupin announced on July 24, 2015, that it entered into a strategic asset purchase agreement, subject to certain closing conditions, with Temmler Pharma, part of the Aenova Group of pharmaceutical contract manufacturers, to acquire Temmler's specialty product portfolio.

Based in Marburg, Germany, Temmler has a specialty portfolio of 13 products including central nervous system (CNS) products and specialty products that address rare disease areas, as well as fast-growing dermatology products for anti-wart treatment.

"Temmler's business has a strong strategic fit with Lupin's Hormosan business in Germany and enables Lupin to bring an enhanced specialty CNS portfolio to the German market," said Vinita Gupta, CEO of Lupin Limited, in a press release.

On July 23, 2015, Lupin announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Gavis Pharmaceuticals LLC and Novel Laboratories Inc., subject to certain closing conditions, in a transaction valued at $880 million. Gavis is a privately held company specializing in formulation development, manufacturing, packaging, sales, marketing, and distribution of pharmaceuticals products. The acquisition enhances Lupin's scale in the US generic market and also broadens Lupin's pipeline in dermatology, controlled substance products, and other high-value and niche generics. Gavis brings to Lupin a highly skilled US-based R&D organization that will complement Lupin's Coral Springs, Florida, inhalation R&D center, noted the company in a press release. Gavis' New Jersey-based manufacturing facility will become Lupin's first manufacturing site in the US. The combined company will have a portfolio of 101 in-market products, 164 cumulative filings pending approval, and a deep pipeline of products under development for the US.

On July 2, 2015, Lupin announced acquisition of 100% equity stake in Biocom, subject to certain closing conditions. The acquisition marks Lupin's foray into the Russian pharmaceutical market. Biocom is a generic pharmaceutical company with a focus on therapies such as cardiovascular, CNS, and antimicrobials for systemic use; the company also does contract manufacturing and secondary packaging. Biocom operates a modern European-GMP compliant plant and was also one of the first Russian pharmaceutical manufacturing companies to receive an approved manufacturer status from the World Health Organization in 2013.

Source: Lupin Pharmaceuticals