Pfizer-Hospira deal gets Competition Comm nod

Fair trade regulator CCI has cleared the proposed deal between leading pharma players Pfizer and Hospira, saying the transaction would not have any adverse impact on competition in India.
Under the structured deal, Pfizer's wholly-owned subsidiary Perkins would be merged into Hospira. Consequently, Hospira would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer.
Giving its green signal, CCI said the "proposed combination is not likely to have any appreciable adverse effect on competition in India".
Pfizer develops and produces medicines and vaccines for a wide range of medical disciplines, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, diabetology/endocrinology and neurology. It has operations in India.
Hospira is a multinational pharmaceutical and medical device company. It operates in India through Hospira Healthcare India that manufactures injectable formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APls).

Besides, there is a joint venture with Cadila Healthcare. This venture -- Zydus Hospira Oncology Pvt Ltd -- manufactures oncology drugs, which are in turn, sold by Hospira overseas India and by Cadila in India.

Based on the information given in the notice seeking approval, Competition Commission of India (CCI) said there is no horizontal overlap between the two companies since Pfizer is not present in the market for APIs while Hospira is not there in the market for formulations in India.
Hospira manufactures oral cephalosporin formulations on a contract manufacturing basis for an Indian pharmaceutical company while Pfizer also sells some of the formulations based on cephalosporin in the country.

However, CCI said the particular pharmaceutical firm is an insignificant player in the market of different formulations based on cephalosporin.
"Thus, the proposed combination is not likely to result in any vertical foreclosure in this regard also," the order dated June 11 and released today, said.