Lupin plans a move into new geographies

Mumbai based Drug major Lupin will look for acquisitions in different parts of the world to enter new product segments, therapies and geographies.

"Going forward, meaningful acquisitions are going to be vital to our growth strategy and we are targeting geographies, complementary product portfolios and therapies that we feel are missing from our current portfolio," Lupin, Managing Director, Nilesh Gupta said in the company's Annual Report for 2015.

In order to consolidate its business globally, the Mumbai-based firm has already inked various agreements in the previous fiscal.

"We entered into a distribution agreement with Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc, USA to exclusively market, distribute and sell Zaxine, Relistor and other gastroenterology products for Canada, heralding our entry into the Canadian brands market," Lupin, CEO, Vinita Gupta said.

Besides, the company completed acquisition of Pharma Dynamics, South Africa and further consolidated its presence in the fast growing African market, she added.

Gupta said the company's investments in novel drug discovery and development and biosimilars are starting to pay off with targets progressing through various stages of clinical trials in Europe and Japan. "In the next two years, we will make meaningful progress and have multiple filings in each of these areas," Gupta said.

Commenting on the US business, Gupta said the company filed 18 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) during FY 2015 and now has 99 ANDAs pending for approval and launch addressing a total market size of over USD 62 billion. Of these, 34 ANDAs are first-to-file addressing a market size of over $8 billion. We have 15 exclusive first-to-file ANDAs addressing a market size of $2.5 billion approximately," she added.