The Hindu Business Line : For pharma, biotech firms, all roads lead to Europe

It's `Europe calling', for Indian pharma and biotech companies, especially from Hyderabad. In just about a year, half a dozen companies have either acquired companies, have forged license agreements or been acquired.

The big ticket acquisition of Betapharm, the fourth largest German company by Dr Reddy's Laboratories in February for Rs 2,250 crore, seems to have set the ball rolling.

Matrix Laboratories Ltd, which was recently acquired by the Mylan Group of the US, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd and Granules India Ltd have been the leading players in making big forays into Europe.

Biotechnology firms - Ocimum Biosolutions, Shantha Biotechnics and Bharat Biotech International Ltd - have also been in the spotlight.

The goal seems to be two-way for Indian companies - a foothold and expansion into the European markets. For the European companies, it is a question of gaining access to the growing Indian and Asian markets.

As the Group Chairman of Merieux Group of France, Mr Alain Merieux, whose vaccine company Alliance Merieux recently acquired 60 per cent from Shantha Biotechnics, said the acquisition will give the French company access to the lucrative Asian markets as well as sound research and development capabilities.

The latest in the Europe calling line has been Bharat Biotech, which concluded a license agreement with the Belgium-based ThromboGenics. The objective of Bharat Biotech in the agreement is to acquire technology to make a cost-effect clot-buster drug, to help heart patients in developing countries.

For Dr Reddy's, the acquisition of Betapharm or for Aurobindo Pharma, which acquired the UK-based Milpharm Ltd, and Matrix Laboratories, which bought the Belgium-based Docpharma for $263 million in June 2005, the acquisition route has been essentially to get a foothold and expand in the growing European markets. These companies already have a strong presence in the US market, which is the biggest, industry experts explained.

Granules India, a focused granulations company, has opted for the joint collaboration mode with the Dutch PharmaMatch to develop, manufacture and market formulations in the European market, starting with Paracetomol.

The lesser known Ocimum Biosolutions has made two acquisitions in the last 18 months in Europe. First, it bought the biotech division of MWG Biotech of Germany to bolster its DNA Chip or Microarray capability and in November, it acquired the Oligo division of the Netherlands-based Isogen Life Sciences, to expand its capabilities in the segment, especially in Europe.

Several other pharma and biotech majors are in the process of expanding into the European markets, even as major global corporates are seriously eyeing the built up capacities and human resources existing in the large number of small bulk and formulations companies in Hyderabad.

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