Lupin enter Europe with acquisition of German pharma marketing agency Hormosan

Lupin (2007 revenues:Rs 2773 crore / $694 million) has announced its entry into the European market with the acquisition German generics sales and marketing company Hormosan Pharma GmbH, for an undisclosed sum.

Hormosan Pharma GmbH specialises in the supply of pharmaceutical products for the Central Nervous System (CNS) and had sales of €6.8 million in 2007.

Hormosan has a complementary product portfolio with products in the central nervous system and cardiovascular therapeutic segments and develops, licenses and markets a range of generics in Germany. Its cardiovascular range would complement Lupin's significant presence in  the cardiovascular prils and statins segment and anti-diabetics. In October 2007 Lupin had sold additional patent rights to Laboratoires Servier of France for its Perindopril for euro20 million.
 
Hormosan's strong brand identity in the German generics market through its strong patient compliance message, essential for patients within the CNS sector would help Lupin introduce its own range in the European markets, especially since the German company has specialist know-how for in-house regulatory, pharmacovigilance, medical information and marketing teams.

"This is in line with our M&A strategy to harness the potential of the leading global pharma markets," said Dr Desh Bandhu Gupta, chairman, Lupin."Hormosan has strengths in the sales and marketing of its products nationwide, together with strong regulatory and pharmacovigilance capabilities that can strengthen our European know-how. Lupin will be able to add significant value through its strengths in R&D and strong, complementary pipeline leading to major synergies and growth."

Lupin had recently entered into marketing and promotion alliance with Ascend Therapeutics for marketing Suprax 400mg-dosage tablets in the US, its largest overseas market. Lupin holds US FDA approval to market its escitalopram oxalate tablets and launched Ramipiril capsules.

It has a strong leadership in anti-TB and cephalosporins and a significant presence in the cardiovascular, diabetology, asthma and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It has also reported significant progress in the development of new chemical entities.