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The Indian fair trade regulator is unlikely to get influenced by the decision of the US trade body on the merger of Sun Pharmaceuticals and Ranbaxy Laboratories.
Ashok Chawla, Chairman, Competition Commission of India (CCI), told BusinessLine that the regulator is examining the deal keeping the Indian market in mind.
“We took a look at the deal from the perspective of our markets and they (the US Federal Trade Commission, or FTC) have considered the implications for the US market. We have given our directions,” he said.
Recently, the FTC had asked Ranbaxy divest its interests in generic minocycline tablets to avoid an anti-competitive situation. In line with the FTC decision, the CCI had mandated that the companies divest stakes in seven formulations to avoid a monopolistic situation.
The combined market share of Sun and Ranbaxy in these seven formulations in India went up to as much as 95 per cent. Ranbaxy is one of the three suppliers of minocycline, which is used to treat bacterial infections, including pneumonia, acne, and urinary tract infections, in the US.
The FTC had held that the $4-billion merger of Ranbaxy with Sun was potentially “anti-competitive” since it would reduce the number of suppliers of the drug (in three different strengths) in the US market.
The commission has ordered Sun and Ranbaxy to sell the latter’s generic minocycline capsule assets to Torrent Pharmaceuticals. Further, the two companies must also “supply generic minocycline tablets and capsules to Torrent until the company establishes its own manufacturing infrastructure,” the trade body said.
A spokesperson from Torrent Pharma said: “Torrent has purchased ANDA (abbreviated new drug application) of minocycline from Ranbaxy for the US market.”
A Sun Pharma official said the divestment in the formulations, as per the decision of the FTC and Indian CCI, would not impact the other markets.
He said the divestment in minocycline would be specifically for the US market and not to impact India.
The divestments in the seven formulations mandated by the CCI would be specifically for the Indian market.
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