Ranbaxy sells drug discovery unit to Daiichi Sankyo

Ranbaxy has completed the sale of its India-based new drug discovery research (NDDR) division to fellow pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo.

The agreement, which has been approved by the relevant agencies and departments in India, will see Daiichi Sankyo’s India Pharma Private Limited division take control of the NDDR unit, which was established by Ranbaxy in 1994.

Despite the sale of the business unit, Ranbaxy will still be moving ahead with plans to develop and commercialise a number of late-stage drugs for which the NDDR unit was responsible, including several joint projects with GlaxoSmithKline.

Atul Sobti, chief executive officer and managing director of Ranbaxy, explained that the sale has been conducted in order to allow the firm to focus more sharply on generic medicines.

He added: “Of course, this move would also provide Ranbaxy good value, on an immediate and recurring basis.”

This comes after Ranbaxy launched a generic version of Lipitor, one of the world’s best-selling patented drugs, earlier this year.