Cadila Healthcare, Bayer unit to form joint venture

Cadila Healthcare and Bayer HealthCare, unit of Bayer AG, have agreed to set up a joint venture to market products locally, including women's healthcare, metabolic disorders and oncology, the two firms said in a statement on Friday.                                           

The equal joint venture named Bayer Zydus Pharma would source Bayer's existing products in India while Cadila Healthcare would contribute its healthcare drugs and diagnostic imaging and other products, they said. 

The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.                                           

The venture would employ about 600 persons and would also focus on sales and marketing of future patented pipeline of pharmaceutical products.

"We expect to leverage the strength of Bayer Zydus Pharma such as the optimised product portfolio and the distribution capabilities to enhance the launch of new products and the sales of existing brands," Dr Jorg Reinhardt, chief executive officer of Bayer HealthCare AG said in a statement.  

The joint venture would help Cadila leverage on strengths and explore the possibility of creating a common platform and build a pool of expertise, said Pankaj Patel, chairman and managing director of Cadila Healthcare in a statement.                                           

At 1:44 pm, Cadila shares were trading at 813.05 rupees, down 1.14% in a weak Mumbai market, which was down 1.6%.