Indian Drug Maker Sun Pharma Denies Calling Off JV With Merck

Pharmaceutical giant Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Limited has clarified to the National Stock Exchange that it has not ended its three-year-old joint venture with the US-based Merck & Co.

“There is no termination of JV of Sun Pharma with Merck (MSD)”, stated the company in its letter dated November 17, 2014. The company made the clarification following a media report which stated that both the companies have called off their partnership, which was signed in 2011.

It further added that the company was not aware of any such development.

India’s largest drug maker had entered into an agreement in 2011 to provide innovative drugs for the emerging markets which included Asia Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

According to the report, under this partnership, Sun Pharma would have produced drugs in India while Merck or MSD, as known in the overseas markets, would have contributed its ‘regulatory competence’. The deal was signed in April 2011.

Representational Image: Indiatimes.com