Actavis buys Sanmar's API facility

BS Reporter / Mumbai

Actavis, one among the top five generic drug manufacturers in the world, has acquired the API (active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) manufacturing division of Sanmar Speciality Chemicals (SSCL), a subsidiary of the Chennai-based Sanmar group. The acquisition price is not disclosed.
SSCL's API division offers Actavis a wholly owned FDA approved facility and the ability to develop and manufacture its own APIs, the single largest cost component in the group's manufacturing. The company had done two acquisitions in India earlier, the Chennai-based Grandix Pharmaceuticals in December 2006 and Lotus Laboratories, a Bangalore-based CRO (Contract Research Organisation), acquired in February 2005.

SSCL's FDA-approved facility, located at Alathur near Chennai supplies APIs to international pharmaceutical companies, mostly in Europe and the US. The plant is capable of undertaking complex reactions and the division currently manufactures 15 products and employs approximately 70 people. A company press release said as part of this acquisition, Actavis has also entered into a service agreement with SSCL to provide Actavis with API research and development services at SSCL's research facilities.

This is in addition to the wholly owned API development center set up by Actavis in Bangalore, which is already in operation. Actavis now has over 620 people employed in India, with operations in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Robert Wessman, President and CEO of Actavis, said “This acquisition strengthens our position in India, providing us with superior backward integration through our leading CRO business, Lotus, and our API and finished dose development and manufacturing. We foresee that both development and manufacturing of API will become an increasing part of our business. At the same time, we have improved our ability to further reduce manufacturing costs and provide additional support for our growing business across Europe and the US for solid dose manufacturing.”

Founded in 1956, the Actavis Group has 10,000 employees operating in over 30 countries around the globe and its headquarters is located in Iceland.