Sun Pharma Snaps Up GlaxoSmithKline's Opiates Business
March 3, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Struggling Indian drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals got some get news Tuesday, when the company said it will buy GlaxoSmithKline 's Australian opiates business for an undisclosed amount, giving it a shot at the $69.63 million the unit brought in during 2013.
Australia’s poppy market is highly coveted by pharmaceutical companies, because its Tasmania region is the world’s largest legal supplier of pharmaceutical grade opiates for painkillers--and is controlled by only three companies, Glaxo, Johnson & Johnson and TPI Enterprises.
As such, Sun was eager to snap up the unit, which currently employs 185, with 155 in the state of Victoria state and 30 in Tasmania.
"The acquisition is a part of our strategy towards building our portfolio of opiates and accessing strong capabilities in this segment," said Iftach Seri, executive vice president of the active pharmaceuticals ingredients business at Sun Pharma.
For its part, Glaxo said it felt the deal made solid strategic sense, as it attempts to shift energy to other areas of its business and "focus on delivering its innovative product portfolio" in Australia.
"The opiates business has been an important part of our Australian business for many years, but as our portfolio transitions, we believe now is the right time to hand this business over to someone else," Steve Morris, general manager of GSK Opiates, said in a statement.
Sun Pharma had a rough 2014, saying Nov. 16 that it is voluntarily recalling 68,194 bottles of a depression drug, sold as Venlafaxine Hydrochloride Extended-Release in the United States.
That news, and rumors that Merck & Co. had terminated a collaboration agreement with Sun Pharma, have pressured shares of the company ever since.
The information was obtained via the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s website, which said the regulator was recalling the drug for failing "dissolution specification". The recall was originally initiated Sept. 26 but became broader this week as it became clear more product had been impacted.
The tablets are made by Sun Pharma Global Inc, a unit of the company. The 37.5 mg tablets in 30-count bottles and 90-count bottles were manufactured at Halol in Dubai. The Class II recall is defined by the FDA as "a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote".
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Last week controversy erupted over the compensation package for Sanofi’s new CEO, Olivier Brandicourt, with several French government officials decrying the amount, calling it "incomprehensible." Brandicourt could walk off with as much as $4.5 million in a “golden handshake” payment in addition to making $4.76 million a year. That base figure is comprised by a fixed annual salary of $1.36 million a year, which is supplemented by a performance-related bonus of between 150 to 250 percent, as well as stock options and performance shares.
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