Sun to merge with bulk antibiotic company
cephalosporin bulk active company, Phlox Pharma, to gain access to
an internationally approved generic active pharmaceutical
ingredient.
Phlox Pharma operates a bulk drug manufacturing facility with 37 metric tonne per year capacity plant for cephalosporins. Crucially, the company holds a European Drug Master File for cefuroxime axetil amorphous, a widely used antibiotic.
Phlox, with sales of R48.2 million (€850,000) in the 12 months to end-September 2003 had earlier filed a reference with India's Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) as a sick company.
An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders has been convened on 31 July to seek approval for the merger.
Sudhir Valia, a director at Sun Pharma, said: "The acquisition of Phlox with its existing international approval and international regulatory standards compliant plant offers us a quick entry into this valuable space, and we have an interesting list of products that can be scaled up at this facility."
Sun Pharma is ranked fifth among all Indian pharma companies with a 3.12 per cent market share, according to IMS data, and over the last few years has been adding significantly to its capacity, for example with the acquisition of a bulk active plant in Ahmednagar from Knoll Pharma.
The company said it has strong initiatives planned in research, with additional 250,000 sq ft of research floor area recently added across two new sites, a 320 person strong R&D team, and commitments of $15 million (€12m) to research for each of the next two years.
