Strides Shasun plans listing of biotech arm

Strides Shasun, a Bengaluru-based pharmaceutical company, plans to list its biotechnology business, Stelis Biopharma.

Bhadree Komandur, its finance head, told this newspaper they’d initiate the process in this quarter and might conclude this by the corresponding quarter in FY18.

Earlier this year, the biotech arm raised $8.49 million from GMS Holdings, a Jordan-based investment entity.

Strides Shasun had bought two of the erstwhile Ranbaxy’s businesses for Rs 165 crore, when Sun Pharmaceutical wanted to rationalise the Ranbaxy business it inherited. In August, it also bought a controlling stake in Australian drug maker Generic Partners Holdings.

The company reported an over two-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 74 crore during the September quarter, up from Rs 35.8 crore for the corresponding period a year before. Income from operations rose 33.3 per cent to Rs 953 crore during the quarter from a year before, it said in a BSE filing.