Hyderabad based generic drug maker Aurobindo Pharma Ltd on Thursday said that it is calling off its proposed acquisition of the US dermatology business and three manufacturing units of Sandoz, a division of Swiss drug maker Novartis.
Aurobindo had entered into an agreement with Sandoz in September 2018 to acquire these businesses for an upfront payment of $900 million and performance based payouts of $100 million.
“Aurobindo today announced the mutual agreement with Sandoz Inc to terminate the agreement to buy the Sandoz US generic oral solids and dermatology businesses from Sandoz Inc. This decision was taken as approval from the US Federal Trade Commission for the transaction was not obtained within anticipated timelines,” the company said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday.
The transaction, at the time of its announcement, was the largest outbound pharma deal by an Indian company.
At the time of the acquisition, Aurobindo claimed that the transaction would catapult it to the second position in the dermatological drugs segment as well as the second-largest generics company in the US by prescriptions.
