The Hindu Business Line : Glenmark acquires seven brands in Poland

Snapshot
The acquisition is to be executed through Glenmark’s Czech subsidiary Medicamenta
A large part of the acquired branded generic drugs belong to the central nervous system segment

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Mumbai, July 2 Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has forged a deal with Iceland’s Actavis and its Polish affiliate Biovena to acquire seven pharmaceutical brands in Poland, for an undisclosed sum.

Glenmark is looking to build a branded business in Central and Eastern Europe. This would be difficult to do organically, which is why the company is looking at multiple acquisitions of a smaller nature, Mr Glenn Saldanha, Managing Director and Chief Executive, told Business Line.

The acquisition, executed through Glenmark’s Czech subsidiary Medicamenta, will give the Mumbai-based drug company access to the Polish market, touted to be the largest pharma market in Central and East Europe.

A large part of the acquired branded generic drugs belong to the central nervous system segment, he said, with annualised sales of $15 million. The marketing and distribution will eventually be handled by Glenmark’s sales force, he said, adding that the company was set to launch four of its products in the Polish market.

The acquisition gives Glenmark a wider scale of operations in Europe, he said, adding that the company was ramping up in this market.

Agreement

Medicamenta will hitherto receive all marketing authorisations and trademark rights in Poland for the products, and will sell the products directly to the Polish market through its appointed distributors, a note from the company said.

Some of the large products in the new portfolio are anti-depressant Cital (citalopram) and epilepsy-related drug Lamotrix (lamotrigine).

The pharmaceutical market in Poland was about $ 7 billion in 2007, growing at about eight per cent, according to industry estimates.

Generics listing

Will the vagaries of the stock market cast a shadow on the listing of Glenmark’s recently formed generics entity, slated for the first quarter of this fiscal?

All that Mr Saldanha is willing to let on is: “We are evaluating all options.” Listing is inevitable, though the timing will depend on the valuation that the company will get, he told Business Line.

Last year, Glenmark had announced the reorganisation of the company into its generics (Glenmark Generics Ltd) and speciality (Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd) segments. The generics entity was to get listed in the first quarter of this fiscal, with plans to offload 15-30 per cent equity.

Diabetes partner

He also indicated that Glenmark was on course to get a partner to outlicense, for the second time, its prospective diabetes molecule (GRC 8200).

The company would have a partner to take the molecule into further development in the next 6-12 months, he said. The diabetes molecule had earlier been outlicensed to Merck in 2006, but this deal was terminated earlier this year, when Merck refocused its energies.

Glenmark shares were up over three per cent on the BSE, at Rs 630 on Wednesday.

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