Aurobindo pharma eyes more acquisitions

By agencies   |   Monday, 03 April 2006, 19:30 IST
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HYDERABAD: Having acquired the U.K.-based Milpharm in an all-cash deal for an undisclosed consideration, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (APL) is ready to spend up to $300 million to aggressively pursue acquisitions, mostly in Europe and to some extent in the U.S. Contrary to the strategy of domestic pharma industry majors such as Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's and Matrix which went in for major acquisitions ranging above $250 million in the recent past, Aurobindo is looking at four-five acquisitions of smaller sizes of up to $50 million each in the European market to complement the substantial manufacturing infrastructure it had already created in India. The company’s Director, Srinivas Lanka said, "We spent around $400 million in the last four to five years on creating robust infrastructure for manufacturing, R&D and also regulatory filings machinery in several countries across the globe. Marketing infrastructure is the only segment that we need to strengthen." The Hyderabad-based generic pharmaceuticals and APIs manufacturer has a strong product portfolio spread over six major product areas encompassing antibiotics, anti-retro virals, CVS, CNS, gastroenterologicals and anti-allergics. Three of its API facilities and three of the formulation units had obtained the USFDA approvals. During the last 18-months period, the strong team of 600-plus scientists has enabled the company to successfully obtain 185 patents, file over 50 ANDAs and more than 50 DMFs in the U.S. The company is bullish on the opportunities to emerge from a number of patent expiries in the next three years. Following this, the company's revenue mix is expected to undergo drastic changes. From the existing mix of 47:53 for domestic and overseas revenues, the company expects it to reach 30:70 in the next couple of years. Lanka said, "Except for segments like cancer, hormones and steroids, the company has presence in all the therapeutic segments where significant patent expiries are expected in the next three years. The company may also consider entering the second horizon segments such as cancer in the next phase."