Cadila arm acquires six brands from MSD pharma

Singapore: Indian pharma giant Cadila healthcare's arm Zydus Healthcare has acquired six brands from MSD Pharmaceuticals India Pvt. Ltd, the local arm of US-based Merck & Co Inc, for distribution in the Indian market. Cadila said in a statement here that the deal includes transfer of distribution and commercialisation rights and assignment of trademarks of all the six brands to Zydus Healthcare Limited in India.

The brands include Deca-durabolin, Durabolin, Sustanon, Multiload, Sicastat and Axeten range, which fall in the men's health, women's health, cardiovascular and wound management therapy segments. The drugs had a combined sales of Rs84 crore in 2015, Cadila Healthcare said in a stock exchange filing.

American firm MSD Pharma has transferred distribution and commercialization rights and assigned trademarks of all the six brands to Zydus Healthcare for the India market, the statement said. As part of the deal, Organon (India) Private Limited, one of the legal subsidiaries through which MSD operates its business in India, has also transferred the distribution and commercialisation rights for Deca-Durabolin and Durabolin to Zydus for Nepal.

The brands Deca-Durabolin and Durabolin are among the widely prescribed drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis, muscle wasting and management of negative nitrogen balance. Sustanon is a form of injectable testosterone in the men's health segment and is used as a testosterone replacement therapy by general practitioners, consultant physicians and andrologists.

The financial details of the deal, however, remain undisclosed.
Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. It operates in areas including prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products and has a presence across 140 countries.

Mr Sharvil Patel, chairman of Zydus Healthcare was quoted as saying in the stock exchange filing, "We have a longstanding association with MSD in India. The brands with their strong equity are a perfect addition and complement our core business and brands. We look at this as a great opportunity to strengthen our core offerings to create value and growth."