Sun Pharma to buy some generic business of Takeda's US subsidiary URL Pharma

18 Dec 2012

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Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma), India's largest drugmaker by market value, yesterday said that its subsidiary Caraco Pharma will buy the generics business of Japanese drug maker Takeda Pharmaceuticals' US-based subsidiary URL Pharma.

The Mumbai-based pharma giant did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition.

The deal comes a month after Sun Pharma said that it is buying US dermatology company Dusa Pharmaceuticals, for about $230 million in cash.

URL Pharma, a former privately-held Philadelphia-based pharmaceutical company was acquired by Takeda America Holdings, Inc. in 2012 for $800 million.

Post closing, Sun Pharma said that the non-Colcrys (colchicine, USP) generic assets of URL Pharma will be owned and managed by Caraco.  Colcrys, used to treat gout, generates sales of $430 million annually or 70 per cent of URL Pharma's total sales of $600 million.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -based URL Pharma has 288 ANDA  (new drug application) US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for selling generic drugs manufactured at its FDA approved facilities in Philadelphia.