Ranbaxy scouts for biotech acquisition
India’s largest drug maker by size, Ranbaxy, is scouting for a biotech acquisition that will give it a strong presence in the global biopharmaceutical market.
The company wants to have a presence in this emerging segment as customised biotech drugs are predicted to eventually replace the conventional chemical drugs. “We will be able to find a strategic fit in this segment before the end-’07,” Ranbaxy Laboratories MD Malvinder Mohan Singh told ET. Ranbaxy would also explore partnerships with biotech companies.
“This would be either for research and development of new molecules or for co-marketing or for a combination of both,” he said. Strengthening the biotech business would make perfect sense for Ranbaxy, considering the rapid growth in the global market, said an analyst.
According to Ernst & Young’s ’06 global biotech report, revenues of the world’s publicly-traded biotech firms grew 18 % in ’05, reaching an all-time high of $63.1bn. A conducive regulatory environment for stem cell research and skills in IT and vaccine development are encouraging many pharmaceutical companies to pursue biotech dreams.
Drug major Cipla, which has a biotech research tie up with Bangalore-based Avasthagen for new cancer and cardiovascular therapies, is also planning to acquire a biotech company that has the capacity to scale up the molecules from the laboratory stage, Cipla’s joint MD Amar Lulla had told ET recently.
On Ranbaxy’s proposed acquisition in the US, Mr Singh said that it would be a company that would give Ranbaxy access in a therapeutic area where it has no presence now. In the last quarter, Ranbaxy had explored the possibility of an acquisition with three US drug makers, Mr Singh said.
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