Hyderabad-based Granules India has signed a definite agreement for the acquisition of Auctus Pharma, an active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) manufacturer, for a sum of R120 crore.
The acquisition process is expected to be completed in three to six months. Auctus is also Hyderabad-based with revenue touching $25 million.
Auctus has two manufacturing facilities, an API facility in Pharmacity in Visakhapatanam and an intermediate facility in Hyderabad. The API facility has approvals from leading regulatory agencies, including the USFDA, EDQM, Health Canada, KFDA and WHO-GMP.
Auctus?s product portfolio includes 12 APIs as well as key intermediates of those APIs. The portfolio includes APIs in therapeutic categories such as antihistaminic, antihypertensive, antithrombotic and anticonvulsant. Auctus currently sells its APIs and intermediates to customers in 50 countries. The team and assets from the acquisition will initially operate as a separate division with Granules.
Granules also announced the opening of a 10,000 sqft R&D facility in Hyderabad. The new facility will focus on full scale generic API development and will supplement the company?s existing R&D facility in Pune, which currently focuses on sustainable technology development. ?The acquisition of Auctus fits into our strategy of being a fully integrated manufacturer while diversifying our product portfolio by adding high-value products with significant market demand. Auctus provides Granules with a meaningful API platform with a USFDA approved site to strengthen our finished dosage division. In order to accelerate growth with a sustainable development engine, we have established a new R&D facility to enable finished dosage filings for our new APIs,? Krishna Prasad, MD, Granules India, said.
