Sun Pharma Acquires Japanese Dermatology Drug Maker

India's largest maker Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 100 percent stake in Japan based Pola Pharma. It will be paying $1 million to acquire the debt-free Japanese drugmaker and the purchase is expected to be completed on or before 31 January 2019.

With this acquisition, the company will have a portfolio of dermatology products and two manufacturing units in Saitama, Japan that has the capabilities to manufacture topical products and injectables. Polo Pharma also has R&D (Research & Development) capabilities in order to develop new technologies and formulations. The Japanese drugmaker reported an annual revenue of $108 million and a net loss of $7 million for the year ended December 2017.

Sun Pharma had entered the Japanese prescription drug market in the year 2016 after acquiring 14 established prescription brands from Novartis. The East Asian country's pharmaceutical market is estimated to be worth $84.8 billion and accounts for 7.5 percent of the global market worth $1.13 trillion.

Shares of the large-cap drugmaker rose over 2 percent to Rs 521.20 a share in early morning trade on BSE before losing stance. Meanwhile, BSE's Sensex and NSE's Nifty were only slightly changed opening at 35,366 and 10,626 respectively. Besides profit-making, the losses in the Pharma sector shares could also be from the strengthening rupee as these companies make a large portion of their earnings in dollars.