Strides Arcolab ends JV with US firm

Bangalore-based Rs 455 crore pharmaceuticals company Strides Arcolab today said it had terminated its equal joint venture agreement with the US-based ACCU-BREAK Pharmaceuticals (ABP). The joint venture company had been formed last year to develop generic products using ACCU-BREAK's technologies. The products were to be sold in the US.

However, according to a statement from the companies to the BSE, the JV agreement was terminated after ABP's business model changed. It now includes potential brand sales of bioequivalent products and out-licensing of certain products. Strides Arcolab and ABP agreed that the joint venture agreement no longer met their needs.

ACCU-Strides, the joint venture company (JVC), was established in June 2006 to outsource an exclusive product pipeline of generic and abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) products in finished dosage forms that were being developed by Strides.

The product dossiers developed for the JVC by Strides were owned exclusively by the JVC. The JVC was also outsourcing from ACCU-BREAK Pharmaceuticals sales, marketing and distribution capabilities for the North American markets while the Strides was providing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities for the rest of the world.

Strides Arcolab also has joint venture agreements with Turkey-based Abdi Ibrahim and US-based Akorn.

The company has received about nine tentative and final approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so far and the company is currently mainly concentrating in the US with the supply of HIV/AIDS drugs. It has approvals for fixed dose combination of lamivudine with stavudine 150 mg and 40 mg tablets and lamivudine-stavudine150 and 40mg tablets co-packaged with nevirapine 200 mg tablets.

It has tentative approval for a fixed dose combination of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs Lamivudine, Zidovudine 150 mg and 300 mg tablets, co-packaged with Nevirapine 200 mg tablets. These have been approved under the expedited review provisions of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programme.

Recently, Strides also received tentative approval for the generic version of HIV/AIDS drug Efavirenz tablets, and is awaiting the final approval.