Mylan to invest $5 billion in Andhra

Mylan entered India in 2007 by acquiring a Hyderabad-based APIs maker, Matrix Laboratories

US generics pharmaceutical company Mylan said on Monday it was keen to expand its presence in Andhra Pradesh with an additional investment of $5 billion, according to a statement issued by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s office.

Rajeev Mukundan, senior vice-president (legal), Mylan, who was part of a delegation representing the US-India Business Council (USIBC), informed Naidu about the company’s latest investment plans on Monday, the statement noted.

Mylan entered India in 2007 by acquiring a Hyderabad-based active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) maker Matrix Laboratories. Since then, the company had made a series of acquisitions, including a United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) approved plant in Visakhapatnam from SMS Pharmaceuticals for $32.5 million.

With the acquisition of Agila Specialties in 2013, Mylan significantly expanded and strengthened its global injectable platform by adding six additional injectable facilities in India. It has research and development facilities for API and other products at Hyderabad and for injectables at Bengaluru. These facilities are run by about 1,000 scientists, according to the company.

Srini Srinivasan, managing director of US-based Hospira, who was also a part of the USIBC delegation, told Naidu that the company had already invested Rs 2,500 crore in its manufacturing facility in Visakhapatnam. Hospira is reportedly building a 1.1 million sq ft manufacturing facility with a capacity to produce 500 million units of sterile injectable drugs a year. The plant was to start operations last year. However, the company is yet to clear the observations it had received from the US FDA during the pre-approval inspections.

The USIBC delegation was led by its executive vice-president Diane Farrel.

A delegate from Johnson & Johnson evinced interest in working with Andhra Pradesh on reducing infant and maternal mortality rate, women health and hygiene. Some of the delegates also expressed their keenness on the state government’s vaccination and immunisation programmes, the chief minister’s office said.

“I am open to public and private investments in healthcare. We can discuss your proposals with our Health Advisory Committee and take it forward,” Naidu said in response, according to the statement.