Cipla to invest Rs 1,000 cr in near future, to acquire Meditab Specialities

Drug major Cipla will invest Rs 1,000 crore in the immediate and near future in factories, expansion of existing facilities and infrastructure, said Y K Hamied, chairman and managing director.

Addressing the 74th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company here today, he said a new research and development (R&D) centre is being set up at Patalganga in Navi Mumbai and the Vikhroli R&D unit in Mumbai is being expanded. The company will also invest in biotechnology, in China and India.

A few months earlier, Cipla had said it’d invest $65 million (Rs 300 crore) in a phased manner over three years to acquire 40 per cent in a biotech company in India, and 25 per cent in a Hong Kong-based company with manufacturing units in Shanghai. It also entered into a deal to invest about Rs 50 crore in the Manipal Group-promoted Stempeutics Research to access stem cell-based therapies.

Hamied said a factory to produce “bio-betters” (biosimilars or reverse engineered versions of biotech drugs) is in the process of completion in Goa. The first products will be launched in early 2012.

“We believe this activity is also humanitarian and like our crusade on the HIV/AIDS front, we will attempt to make a similar contribution in the sophisticated cancer market, reaching one and all cancer patients with valuable drugs at affordable prices,” said the Cipla chief.

Hamied will be completing 50 years in Cipla next year. “I had joined the company as a research and development officer in 1961,” he said.

The AGM approved a proposal to induct Kamil Hamied, son of joint managing director M K Hamied and nephew of Y K Hamied, as a member of the management team. Kamil, who graduated from United World College, Singapore, and also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University, has been involved with the marketing of Cipla’s pharmaceutical products for the past five years.

Cipla also today announced it would acquire Meditab Specialities, a promoter group company, for Rs 133.35 crore. The aggregate consideration for this acquisition was determined on the basis of the valuation report by Grant Thornton and fairness opinion provided by Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, said a Cipla statement.

Meditab is expanding a bulk drug and intermediates business through its manufacturing facility in China. It also has a facility in Uganda and a strategic relationship for research & development of stem cell-based products, having facilities in India and Malaysia, through equity participation.

The Cipla management has also announced a special interim dividend of 80p per equity share (face value of Rs 2 per share) for the financial year ending March 31, 2011, to mark the company’s 75th anniversary. The total payout inclusive of dividend tax would aggregate to approximately Rs 75 crore.