In Biocon’s continuing effort to divest and Eris Lifesciences’ attempt to grow, the companies have expanded a previous agreement, with Bangalore-based generics giant Biocon selling Indian branded formulations businesses to Mumbai-based Eris for 12.4 billion Indian rupees ($150 million).
The new deal includes Biocon’s portfolio of metabolic, oncology and critical care products in India and builds on an agreement from November of 2023, when Biocon sold its dermatology and nephrology branded formulations businesses to Eris for 3.5 billion rupees ($41 million).
The divested business units accounted for 3.7% of Biocon’s revenue in fiscal year 2023, the drugmaker said. As part of the deal, which the companies expect to close next month, 430 employees will be transferred from Biocon to Eris.
“[The collaboration] aligns with our commercial strategy to maximize patient reach and market potential,” Shreehas Tambe, Biocon Biologics CEO, said in a release.
Two of the prizes in the deal were insulin treatments Basalog and Insugen. Eris said these will allow its diabetes treatment franchise reach 10 billion rupees in annual revenue ($120 million), making it the fifth largest diabetes portfolio in India. Insugen was the first recombinant human insulin product developed domestically in India. The deal also signals Eris’ entry into oncology and critical care.
With the news, Biocon’s shares jumped in price by 4.3% while those of Eric rose by 3.1%.
“This collaboration is in line with Biocon Biologics’ strategy to unlock value from its legacy business of branded formulations built over the past two decades,” Biocon said in its release. “Biocon will continue to leverage Eris’ strong commercial footprint to significantly expand patient access to its world-class biosimilars in India.”
The deal adds to a splurge of recent acquisitions by Eris. Last month the company bought up a 51% stake in Swiss Parenterals, bringing its equity in the Ahmedabad-based generics and specialty pharmaceuticals manufacturer to 70%.
In 2022, Eris entered the dermatology arena with a buyout of Mumbai-based Oaknet Healthcare. In January of last year, Eris acquired nine dermatology brands from Glenmark for 3.4 billion rupees ($41.4 million). Two months later, Eris picked up another nine dermatology brands from Dr. Reddy’s for 2.75 billion rupees ($33.2 million).