Pharma firm Granules India Ltd on Monday signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent stake in privately-held Auctus Pharma for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition of Auctus, an Active Pharma Ingredients (API) producer, is expected to be completed in the next 3 to 6 months.
Auctus operates an API facility in Pharmacity, Visakhapatnam and an intermediate facility in Hyderabad and has all necessary approvals in place from regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & Healthcare (EDQM), Health Canada, Korea Food and Drug Administration and WHO-Good Manufacturing Practices, Granules said in a statement.
“Auctus provides Granules with an API platform having the US FDA approved site to strengthen its finished dosage division...,” said Krishna Prasad, Managing Director, Granules India, whose profit after tax during the first half of the current financial year stood at `31 crore.
Meanwhile, Granules has announced the setting up of a 10,000 sq ft Research & Development facility in Hyderabad that will focus on full scale generic API development besides supplementing the company’s existing R&D facility in Pune.
“The acquisition is one part of our three-prong growth strategy. In addition, our team is eagerly awaiting the commercializatoin of our third growth driver, Granules OmniChem, a collaboration with Ajinomoto OmniChem, a premier CRAMs manufacturer,” said Harsha Chigurupati, Executive Director, Granules India.