Under the agreement, Lupin, through its Japanese subsidiary Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry, will sell all shares of its injectables business, Kyowa Criticare, to neo ALA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Neopharma group headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Kyowa Criticare is a manufacturer of injectable products, with facilities in Atsugi, Japan. According to Lupin, the transaction will not affect other operations of Kyowa, which include research, manufacturing, and marketing of oral solids and other dosage forms in Japan.
Fabrice Egros, president of Lupin in Asia Pacific, said the divestiture is “a step towards streamlining our Japan operations and bringing sharper focus on building a hybrid (Brand/ generics) pharma model in Japan.”
On his side, Suresh Nandiraju, COO of Neopharma, said that the acquisition will strengthen the company’s offering in the Japanese market, where Neopharma anticipates sustainable growth.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Neopharma is the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the UAE, and has been taking steps forward over the last year with the acquisitions of facilities from Dr Reddy’s in India and the US.
The company also recently announced an agreement for the commercialization and distribution of six drug products of GlaxoSmithKline in the UAE.
The deal with Neopharma comes as Lupin is facing several regulatory blockages regarding its operations at its facilities in India.
Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration issued Lupin a Form 483, regarding concerns about microbial contamination, including a report about human hair found embedded in a tablet.