Strides Arcolab expands US presence

India's Strides Arcolab has expanded its presence in the United States through its partnership with the Illinois-based Sagent Pharmaceuticals. The partnership was formed in late 2007 with the finalisation of an agreement to jointly develop, supply and market over 25 injectable products for the US. Under the terms of the agreement, Strides is responsible for the development and supply of the products, whilst Sagent is responsible for their marketing in the US. The first product under the agreement, azithromycin, was approved in March 2009; this was followed in September 2009 with the approval of adenosine. Approval number three was in February 2010, for labetalol hydrochloride. The agreement now appears to be gaining momentum: April 2010 saw approvals for granisetron, mesna injection and metoprolol, with a tentative approval for adenosine in new dosage strengths.

Strides' partnership with Sagent is not its only agreement covering the US, nor was it the first. Strides has made partnering a key element of its business strategy. Asides from its agreement with Sagent, Strides also has a joint venture serving the US which it formed with another Illinois-based firm, Akorn. The 50:50 joint venture was created in 2004; similarly to the partnership with Sagent, Strides is responsible for developing, manufacturing and supplying products to the joint venture, whilst Akorn is responsible for sales and marketing on behalf of the joint venture. This agreement saw 20 injectable generic drugs earmarked for development; the ANDA for the first product was filed in April 2006. By October 2006, the joint venture had filed ten ANDAs, and the two firms expanded the agreement to cover 29 products in December 2007. Akorn-Strides' first ANDA approval, for keterolac tromethamine, was approved in 2007. Since then, the joint venture has had eight products approved, with the most recent, vancomycin, gaining approval in December 2008 and being launched in April 2010.

In total, Strides claims to have partnership agreements with more than ten of the world's top 50 pharmaceutical companies in Australia, South Africa, Europe and the US. The firm has certainly been busy so far in 2010. Perhaps the most notable deal has been its collaboration with Pfizer's Established Products Business Unit, which was signed in January. Pfizer will commercialise sterile injectables supplied by two Strides joint ventures, Onco Laboratories and Onco Therapies. The other partner in the Onco joint venture is South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare. In March, Strides and Aspen announced a restructuring of their arrangements related to these two oncology joint ventures, with Aspen selling its 50% ownership to Strides for US$117 million, making Strides the sole owner. At the same time, Strides entered into another understanding with Aspen to acquire the South African firm's facility in Campos, Brazil, for a consideration of around US$75 million. Campos is a speciality injectable business; Strides' agreements with Sagent and Akorn both revolve around injectables, highlighting the importance of this market niche to Strides. Also in March, Strides made a non-binding and conditional proposal for a potential acquisition of all the shares of Ascent Pharmahealth, an Australia and Singapore-based generic, consumer skincare and OTC supplier with a customer base in Australia and Asia. Strides is currently the largest shareholder in Ascent, currently controlling around 57% of Ascent's ordinary share capital. As yet, the proposal has not produced any concrete agreements, and there is no certainty that it will. Ascent had been known as Genepharm Australasia, and in 2008, Genepharm acquired Strides' Australian and Asian businesses, ultimately providing Ascent's initial Singapore link; this deal looks to be coming full circle. Interestingly, in October 2009, Ascent entered into a distribution and services agreement with Pfizer, a deal which mirrored Strides' own agreement with Pfizer this year, and suggests the influence Strides has had over Ascent. Strides certainly seems to be developing a reach that goes beyond the company's appearance on paper.

Ian Platts – Editor, World Generic Markets