Strides Arcolab buys stakes in onco JVs with Aspen Pharma

Strides Arcolab has bought the stakes owned by South African generics drug major Aspen Pharmacare in two 50:50 cancer drug making joint ventures – Onco Therapies in India and Onco Laboratories in Cyprus – for $117 million (Rs 531 crore).

Strides Arcolab said the payment terms for the deal were based on certain future milestones with an outside date for settlement of all outstanding amounts by April 30, 2011.

As part of the deal, Strides would also license existing and future oncology products to Aspen Pharmacare, an Aspen Group company, for certain territories.

Aspen has been a long-term partner of Strides Arcolab since 2003. It had entered into a series of transactions with the Bangalore-based company in November 2007 to enter the Latin America market and to develop oncology and generic products. Aspen, Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer and one of the top 20 generics manufacturers worldwide, already has a developing oncology business in most of these territories.

“We are delighted to strengthen our existing partnership with Aspen by entering into a licensing agreement in territories where Aspen has established distribution,” Strides Arcolab Vice-Chairman and group chief executive Arun Kumar said in a statement.

Guidance revised upwards 
Strides Arcolab, which follows a January-to-December financial year, also revised its guidance for 2010.

The company said its consolidated revenue was expected to grow 35-37 per cent to Rs 1,775-1,825 crore.

The Rs 1,300-crore company had earlier projected a revenue growth of 25-30 per cent in 2010.