Vol. 2, No. 12 December 1998
NumberSubject
021201Astra-Zeneca Merger Will Not Affect Indian Operations
021202Nicholas Piramal to Acquire & Control Chain of Pathological Labs
021203Reckitt Piramal Targets Rs 240 Crore in First Year
021204Government to Delicence Five Bulk Drugs
021205Glaxo Withdraws Writ Petition Challenging Ranitidine Price Reduction
021206Ranbaxy Chairman Seeks to Retire Debt
021207Nicholas Piramal Partners with Shree Dhootapapeshwar
021208US FDA Grants Approval for Ranbaxy's Etololac
021209Hoechst Marion Roussel Expects Sales to Grow by Ten Per Cent
021210US Vitamins Stops Production at Bombay Unit




































021201 Astra-Zeneca Merger Will Not Affect Indian Operations

Reportedly, the merger of Swedish giant drug company Astra and the British company Zeneca will have little impact in India. Neither company has any significant presence in India after Astra divested its 25.75 per cent stake in Astra-IDL in favour of its Indian partner, the Hindujas. The end of Astra's joint venture with Merck of the US had given rise to speculation about Astra looking for another merger partner.

021202 Nicholas Piramal to Acquire and Control Chain of Pathological Labs

Nicholas Piramal unveiled its plans to go into an ambitious plan to acquire control of a chain of pathological labs and entering into a joint venture to carry out clinical trials for new drugs. It will enter into an equity participation with large pathology laboratories in Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The total equity participation will be about Rs 60 crores. The company will also offer ambulatory care and insurance and healthcare products for companies and individuals.

021203 Reckitt Piramal Targets Rs 240 Crore in First Year

The 60:40 joint venture between Reckitt & Coleman and Nicholas Piramal, Reckitt Piramal intends to target Rs 240 crore in the first year of operations. It will introduce six new products in the market including line extensions. Reckitt's anti-acidity drug Gaviscon is the first product that Nicholas Piramal will manufacture for the joint venture at its Pithampur facility. The product will be first promoted ethically through Nicholas before being transferred to Reckitt Piramal.

021204 Government to Delicence Five Bulk Drugs

The government is all set to delicence and dereserve five bulk drugs that were reserved for production in the public sector. These drugs are: tetracycline, oxytetracycline, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and folic acid. This will simultaneously lead to low competition and lower pricing of the drugs making it cheaper for customers, and lower imports of these drugs. IDPL the sole manufacturers of these drugs is very near to closure and is unable to meet the requirements of consumers. Because of the decline in production of the drugs, imports had to be resorted to and now private manufacturers can come in and fill the gap in the demand.

021205 Glaxo Withdraws Writ Petition Challenging Ranitidine Price Reduction

Reportedly, Glaxo's writ petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the reduction in prices of its major product the anti-ulcerant ranitidine, has been withdrawn. Glaxo's Zinetac formulation of ranitidine has sales of about Rs 70 crore and contributes about 10 per cent to the sales of the company. The bulk drug price was reduced steeply from Rs 1,714 a kg to Rs 1,203 a kg, with a similar cut in formulations. Disappointed with the delays in court, it will now enter into a dialogue with the government over the issue.

021206 Ranbaxy Chairman Seeks to Retire Debt

Reportedly, the chairman of Ranbaxy, who had sold close to 7 per cent of his holding to raise money to retire debt, is expected to sell a part of his stake in the holding company to again raise money for the same purpose. Reportedly, he is looking to raise around Rs 100 crore to Rs 150 crore in this way.

021207 Nicholas Piramal Partners with Shree Dhootapapeshwar

Nicholas Piramal has tied up with the Maharashtra-based, 125-year-old, ayurvedic products manufacturer, Shree Dhootapapeshwar, to enter the ayurvedic products market for the first time. The equal partnership venture called Solumix Piramal will market a range of sixteen products from the ethical products division of Shree Dhootapapeshwar. This division is being transferred to the new company. The tie-up will provide Nicholas Piramal with know-how for its nascent thrust into phytochemistry (plant chemistry) research at the newly acquired Hoechst Research Centre. Shree Dhootapapeshwar has a 10-acre herbal farm at Bangalore.

021208 US FDA Grants Approval for Ranbaxy's Etodolac

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approval for Ranbaxy's US subsidiary, Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc., for its Etodolac 400 mg and 500 mg tablets. The product will be manufactured by Ohm Laboratories, a subsidiary of Ranbaxy, and marketed by Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals. Etodolac, a generic equivalent of Wyeth's Lodine, is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug. Ranbaxy had aggressive growth plans to expand its US product portfolio to twenty-five products by the end of 1999. It has already commercialised around sixteen products.

021209 Hoechst Marion Roussel Expects Sales to Grow by Ten Per Cent

The consolidated sales of Hoechst Marion Roussel (India) and Roussel (India) is expected to show a 9 to 10 per cent growth in the domestic market for the nine months ended December 1998 over the corresponding period last year. Exports are down and the overall sales figure is expected to show a slight decline for the corresponding period. The company is also changing its accounting year from April to March to January to December.

021210 US Vitamins Stops Production at Bombay Unit

The 170-crore US Vitamins is closing its production activity in Bombay manufacturing injectables and tablets and liquid orals and putting up an advanced biotechnology research centre with an investment of Rs 18 crore. The centre will be staffed by 25 scientists who will work on a range of products ranging from erythropoetin, granulocyte monocyte colony stimulating factor, human growth hormone and tissue plasminogen activator. The company's production will be shifted to its other unit at Lote Parshuram or will be contracted to third parties. Meanwhile, the company is on an acquisition spree adding Lyka Labs' Angispan and Neopharma's Bronchordyl and Siladerm to its product portfolio.