The $28m (€19.8m) acquisition, which was cleared by TLSL’s board last week, includes the sterile powder and syringe production facility being built by TLSL at a 30 acre site in Medak near Hyderabad.
The new plant, construction of which is 75 per cent complete according to an NDTV Profit report, will also house lyophilisation and ampoule production capacity. The site is expected to be fully operational in April 2011.
Centrum Broking analyst Sriram Rathi told the Wall Street Journal the TLSL deal "helps Aurobindo fill a critical gap in its manufacturing capabilities," and added that the potential to make drugs for Western markets at Medak was a key motivation.
Aurobindo, which produces a range of non-branded active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished products, generated around 60 per cent of its revenue for the quarter ended June 30 from European and US sales of finished products.
These regions look set to be increasingly important for the firm as part of its strategy to “become a significant player in the generics market, especially in the regulated markets.”
Further evidence for Aurobindo’s global ambitions came earlier this month with its 100 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved product, namely its version of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) migraine treatment Imitrex (sumatripan succinate).
While expanding sales in Europe and the US is clearly a key goal for Aurobindo, its recent deal with Pfizer suggests that it is also aware of the potential of emerging markets.
Under the deal, which was signed in April, Pfizer acquired rights to 55 solid oral dose products and five sterile injectable products that it will sell in several countries throughout Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.