The Hindu Business Line : Unichem ties up with Pliva for US market

Unichem Laboratories Ltd has entered into an agreement for the US market with Pliva Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Croatian company Pliva Pharmaceuticals.

The agreement initially covers five products in the anti-histamine, sleep-disorder, anti-hypertensive and pyretic segments. The combined sales of innovator products in these categories is $3 billion, a Unichem spokesperson told Business Line. The first product from this agreement is expected to be launched in December 2008.

The product development, manufacturing and supply agreement with Pliva Inc is for five years, starting from the date of launch. It covers products that are in an advanced stage of development and could be extended to other products on a mutual agreement, he said.

As per the agreement, Pliva would fund certain development activities of the company in return for marketing exclusivity to Pliva for the US market. The generic drugs would, however, bear the joint label of Unichem and Pliva, the official said. The profits made in the US market would be shared by the two companies, he added.

Q4 performance

Meanwhile, the company registered a 143 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 15.57 crore for the fourth quarter (Q4) ended March 31, 2006. This stands compared with net profit of Rs 6.4 crore in the corresponding period last year. The company clocked revenues of Rs 109.66 crore for the period under review as compared with Rs 78 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company clocked revenues of Rs 477.7 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006, as compared with Rs 424.56 crore in the previous year. It registered a net profit of Rs 83 crore for the year under review, as compared with Rs 44 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Unichem shares closed at Rs 260.25, down 6.82 per cent on the BSE.

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