The acquisition of Janssen Pharmaceutica’s injectable anaesthesia and pain management products by Piramal Enterprises Ltd (PEL) will enable the Mumbai-based company to expand the product portfolio of its critical care division. The Ajay Piramal-controlled PEL has bought five products from Janssen in a cash deal worth $ 175 million (about Rs 1,165 crores), which include upfront consideration of $ 155 million and up to an additional payment of $ 20 million.
PEL will acquire five injectable versions of well-established Janssen brands, Sublimaze (fentanyl citrate), Sufenta (sufentanil citrate), Rapifen (alfentanil hydrochloride), Dipidolor (piritramide), and Hypnomidate (etomidate).
Piramal has agreed to acquire the brand names and all related IP as associated with these products, including the know-how to make both the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and the finished dosage forms of these products. Acquired products are currently marketed in over 50 countries.
“Healthcare is an important focus area for Piramal Enterprises and we are strongly committed to growing this segment. The healthcare segment has grown at 17 percent CAGR over the last five years. This would be our sixth healthcare acquisition in the last two years, inorganically investing Rs 1,800 crores across our healthcare businesses. This acquisition is critical in shaping our product offerings, providing access to global markets and leveraging our existing capabilities. This acquisition is an important step in enabling Piramal Critical Care to start to address the global generic injectable hospital drug market which is greater than $ 20 billion in size,” commented Ajay Piramal, chairman, Piramal Enterprises.
As part of the transaction, Janssen will continue to supply finished dosage forms for up to three years and API for up to five years. Janssen will continue to sell the products on behalf of Piramal until the marketing authorisations or relevant business relations are transferred to Piramal. Janssen can earn up to an additional $ 20 million if the product portfolio achieves certain agreed financial milestones over the next 30 months. The transaction is expected to close this week.
Peter DeYoung, CEO - Piramal Critical Care, added, “We are currently the third largest player in the inhalation anaesthesia market globally and continue to grow in that niche segment. These injectable anaesthesia and pain products are a terrific addition to our existing portfolio that will allow us to provide greater value to our customers leveraging our existing organisation and distribution partners. Four of the acquired products are controlled substances which have higher barriers to entry. Once the business is fully transitioned to us, our customers and business partners will benefit from our broader product basket, and in turn we can grow the value of the acquired product portfolio through our team’s focused sales and marketing efforts.”