The Hindu Business Line : Sun Pharma buys US co Chattem Chemicals

Mumbai, Nov. 26 Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has acquired Chattem Chemicals Inc, a US-based narcotic substances producer and importer, for an undisclosed amount.

For the year ending June 2008, Chattem is estimated to have clocked sales of $26 million. The transaction comes even as Sun Pharma’s acquisition of Israeli generic-drug-maker Taro remains incomplete and mired in litigation.

The Chattem deal, Sun Pharma’s third in the controlled-substances business, helps the Mumbai-based drug company to consolidate its presence in the segment.

Sun’s Chairman and Mananging Director, Mr Dilip Shanghvi, said in a company statement that the acquisition would help the company to be a more active player in the pain management segment in the US. The market for controlled substances is estimated at $6 billion for finished forms of the product.

The acquisition was effected by Sun Pharma’s US-based subsidiary and Chattem was bought from Elcat Inc. No reasons were given on why Elcat Inc sold the business it had purchased in 1995. Elcat had purchased the chemical division of Chattem, giving rise Chattem Chemicals Inc, the company’s site said.

Chattem’s biz

Chattem is registered with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a narcotic raw material importer, a note from Sun Pharma said. The import registration includes four controlled substance products listed in Schedule 2, such as methamphetamine, phenylacetone, raw opium and concentrate poppy straw.

Additionally, it is also licensed by the DEA to manufacture Schedule 1 to 5 controlled substances, it added. At its facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Chattem employs 60 people and manufactures a variety of active pharmaceutical ingredients with a focus on controlled substances.

In 2005, Sun Pharma acquired a facility in Hungary authorised to make controlled substance APIs, starting from the initial stage, that is, poppy farming.

In the same year, it acquired a new manufacturing site in New Jersey, equipped with special suites for the manufacture of controlled substances finished dosages.

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