Sai Parenterals Limited has acquired a 60% stake in Prathyak Laboratories Private Limited, an operating research and development centre at Genome Valley, Hyderabad, for Rs 15 crore, marking a significant expansion of its complex injectable and oncology development capabilities.

 

The acquisition, funded through unutilised net proceeds from Sai Parenterals’ initial public offering, makes Prathyak a direct subsidiary of the company. It has been renamed Sai Prathyak Laboratories Private Limited.

 

The deal replaces the greenfield R&D centre that Sai Parenterals had originally planned to build using funds earmarked in its IPO objects. Rather than starting from scratch, the company has acquired an operating platform with an established scientific team and an active development pipeline.

 

Prathyak has been operational for three years and brings 28 research scientists and a development pipeline comprising 150 SKUs across 86 molecules. Its capabilities span lyophilised, liposomal and nano-based complex injectables, as well as oncology injectables — areas central to Sai Parenterals’ strategy to build a regulated-market injectable franchise.

 

The acquisition is expected to accelerate the company’s development-to-commercialisation cycle by eliminating the construction timeline associated with a greenfield facility and avoiding the lengthy process of building a specialised scientific team.

 

Formulations developed at the R&D centre can be moved into commercial production as Sai Parenterals expands and upgrades its injectable manufacturing capacity. This could shorten the path from product development to supply in regulated and semi-regulated markets.

 

The facility will also support Sai Parenterals’ business in Australia and New Zealand, where renewed supply agreements include contractual commitments to introduce new products each year. The company can now undertake that development work within the Group.

 

Sai Parenterals has also retained the option to acquire the remaining 40% stake through a Right of First Refusal (ROFR) at the same valuation as the current transaction. The purchase would be funded through internal accruals, potentially taking Prathyak to wholly owned subsidiary status.

 

Commenting on the acquisition, Anil Kumar Karusala, Chairman and Managing Director, Sai Parenterals Limited, said: "Building a research centre from the ground up would have cost us a construction cycle and, far more significantly, the time taken to assemble a scientific team. 

 

"Prathyak gives us both on day one — 28 research scientists who have worked together for three years, and a pipeline of 150 SKUs across 86 molecules in exactly the complex injectable and oncology areas we are building towards."

 

He added: "The value of this acquisition lies in what it enables elsewhere in the Group. Work already completed at this R&D centre can be taken into production as our injectable capacity is expanded. The same R&D team will also develop the new products we are required to launch each year under our Australian agreements. We have acquired 60% today and will move to full ownership at the same valuation.

 

"This is a further step in the growth plan we set out at the time of our listing: deeper integration across our own value chain, a faster route from development to commercial supply, and capability built inside the Group instead of with third parties. We will continue to pursue opportunities of this kind, organic and inorganic, that strengthen the platform and create lasting value for our stakeholders."