Glenmark Putting Chunk of API Offshoot up for Sale?
India-headquartered drugmaker Glenmark is said to be taking another look at selling a majority stake in its business with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which is wrapped up in subsidiary Glenmark Life Sciences.
According to news agencies, the pharma company, which owns 82% of the API spinoff, has contacted potential buyers and hired Kotak Mahindra Capital to oversee the sale.
Glenmark reportedly was already required to sell a part of the life science activities by August 2024, to reduce its ownership to the 75% threshold mandated by Indian regulators.
In 2019, deeply in debt, the company considered selling off the API business but opted instead for a spinoff. In the meantime, debt is seen to be increasing again, reaching 26.15 billion rupees at the end of 2022.
At the start of 2023, Glenmark sold nine dermatology brands to Eris Lifesciences for 3.40 billion rupees ($41.4 million) to free up cash.
In an unrelated action last month, Glenmark and US Merck & Co, without admitting fault or liability, resolved a long-running lawsuit charging that they had conspired to delay generic competition for the cholesterol drug known as Zetia.
The plaintiffs, drug purchasers, payers and retailers, originally filed suit in 2018 and amended the case the following year. They alleged that Merck paid Glenmark dished out some $800 million in an “unlawful reverse-payment” to delay the launch of an Indian generic copy for nearly five years.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
