MUMBAI, APRIL 1: Mumbai-based Indoco Remedies Ltd has agreed to acquire Piramal Clinical Research (PCL), a Hyderabad-based clinical research division of Piramal Enterprises Ltd, for an undisclosed sum.

The all-cash deal is funded by internal accruals, Indoco said.

The research organisation specialises in conducting bioequivalence and bioanalytical studies for generic products.

"The acquisition has a great fit with our business. As we get into specialised generics, controlled and sustained release products, etc., it is great to have a CRO (clinical research organisation) in our backyard," Aditi Kare Panandikar, Managing Director, Indoco Remedies, told BusinessLine.

About 50 employees with the facility move to Indoco with the formalisation of this deal.

The acquisition would reduce our dependability on outsourcing bio-equivalence studies, she said, but indicated that it may not quite bring down costs, as the company’s filings to market drugs in overseas markets increases.

Meanwhile, Piramal Enterprises said in a statement that Piramal Clinical Research was not considered strategic in nature and formed a relatively small portion of PEL's consolidated business.

The transaction does not have a material impact on PEL's balance sheet, it added. The transaction is expected to be completed by April 6, it said.

PEL had last year realigned its research, exiting early stage discovery to focus on late stage clinical development of products. It then had eight research centres in India and overseas. There is no change at the other centres, indicated Swati Piramal, responding to a query.

(This article was published on April 1, 2015)