The Hindu Business Line : Aurobindo Pharma jumps on talk of Teva buying it <br> No such negotiations: Co informs SEs

AMIDST the buzz that the Israeli generics giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is close to finalise a deal to acquire the Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (APL), the latter's stock recorded heavy trading volumes and steep rise in price on Monday to report the year's highest price on the Indian bourses.

The stock gained 9.96 per cent on the BSE to close at Rs 488.75, while it reported a record gain of 13.47 per cent on the NSE to close at Rs 488.05. While 20.95 lakh shares changed hands on NSE, over 4.52-lakh shares were traded on the BSE.

At one point of the trading session on Monday, the price touched Rs 533 on both the exchanges, hitting the circuit breaker.

Of late, the markets have been agog with rumours that the Teva team is holding negotiations with the promoters of Aurobindo Pharma for acquiring controlling stake but the deal could not be finalised for want of consensus on valuation.

When contacted, a senior Aurobindo Pharma official told Business Line that the company promoters did not hold any discussions with the Teva management for selling their stake in favour of the Israeli pharma major.

Later in the day, the Aurobindo Pharma Company Secretary informed the stock exchanges that, "there are no such negotiations between the companies (Aurobindo Pharma and Teva) with regard to equity acquisition."

According to market sources, while Teva is keen on strengthening its presence in India, its management is not at all in favour of setting up a green-field pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the subcontinent. Finding India as an ideal low-cost production base for its generics operations, Teva is said to be on a search to acquire an Indian pharmaceutical company that has globally approved manufacturing facilities.

Aurobindo Pharma has already received approvals for several facilities from leading regulatory agencies such as the USFDA, UK MHRA, WHO, Health Canada and MCC of South Africa. It has also bagged the USFDA approvals for a bouquet of anti-retrovirals. The company has a robust product portfolio spread over six major therapeutic product areas encompassing antibiotics, anti-retrovirals, cardiovasculars, central nervous system (CNS), gastroenterologicals and anti-allergics. At present, the company is marketing these products to over 100 countries across the globe.

Teva Pharmaceutical has recently announced that it was looking for Indian partners in clinical research and biotechnology areas after opening a $4-million research and development (R&D) facility in Noida.

Traditionally involved in developing innovative drugs for treating CNS disorders, Teva is now exploring new therapeutic areas. It added a sixth API manufacturing facility at Gajrola in Haryana involving an investment of $30 million.