Strides Shasun inks JV pact with Vivimed Labs

New Delhi: Drug firm Strides Shasun said it has inked a pact with Vivimed Labs to set up two joint venture firms.

The JV allows Strides to get access to Hyderabad-based Vivimed’s US FDA compliant formulation plant in Alathur, Tamil Nadu in addition to a portfolio of approved abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) and under development product pipeline for US market.

For Vivimed Labs the deal will help to grow its presence in the US finished dosage formulation (FDF) business as it will take advantage of Strides' existing front-end in the US market.

Strides will be paying around Rs 75 crore in cash as part of the joint venture investment.

The first JV, a 50:50 joint venture company in India will own a USFDA approved formulation facility in Alathur, Chennai, Strides Shasun said in a regulatory filing.

The second JV firm would come up in Singapore and will own various approved abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) and product pipeline, it added.

The Alathur facility was acquired by Vivimed in 2013 and has successfully completed 2 US FDA inspections since then, in addition to expanding its capacity to 1.5 billion tablets per annum.

The exercise provides additional capacity and derisks manufacturing infrastructure, the company said.

The transaction is expected to close on May 31, 2017.