INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hyderabad: Concerns from the US antitrust watchdog Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over likely monopoly and disruption of continued
production of 10 critical common drugs have forced Indian drug maker Aurobindo Pharma to terminate its $1-billion acquisition of the US
dermatology business and manufacturing facilities of Sandoz, which is a part of the Swiss giant Novartis.
The bouyout, which was the largest
outbound pharma deal by an Indian company at the time of its announcement in September 2018, would have enabled Aurobindo to emerge as the
second-largest generics player by prescription numbers in the US
The Hyderabad-based firm was to pay $900 million upfront and $100 million in performance-based payouts .
The over 1.5-year delay in
regulatory approvals made the two firms mutually terminate the agreement on Thursday
regulator, said people in the know.
The FTC had identified some 10 common products, mostly pencillins and cephalosporins, between Aurobindo
and Sandoz, where acquisition would lead to dominant cornering of market share
very significant, they had to exit from the set of products to ensure that those products are competitively priced in the market, said one
Even without the acquisition deals, Aurobindo was growing significantly over the last several quarters
