Shasun Chem signs in-licensing deal with Dutch co

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Vimal Kumar , Wholetime Director, Shasun Chemical said that their UK unit has signed an in-licensing deal with the Dutch company H Lundbeck . He added that the licensing agreement will bring some royalties.

 

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Vimal Kumar:

 

Q: Could you give us more details on this in-licensing deal and the nature of it?

 

A: This is a non-exclusive licensing agreement our UK subsidiary has entered into with the Spanish company Lundbeck. This is to exploit the technology we posses, which we took over from Rhodia and is used as a cross-coupling technology.

 

Q: What kind of an income or royalty do you expect from this deal?

 

A: I will not disclose the numbers, but as far as the licensing fee is concerned, annually it is a fixed amount. It's not a big amount, but when they will come out with new drug or something we will be entitled to some royalties.

 

Q: How will this licensing agreement add to the revenues of the company going forward?

 

A: This is to show Shasun's flexibility in managing its intellectual property and making sure that we serve our customer first. Our customer can exploit these technologies to develop new drugs, so that we will benefit out of royalty when it is introduced.

 

Q: You recently received an approval for your formulation facility. Is that going to be used for this tie-up in any shape or form?

 

A: This formulation approval has come through USFDA inspection, which is a first for our formulation side and has gone well. Now we will be able to export to the US market.

 

Q: Will your manufacturing facility in India be producing drugs for Lundbeck now?

 

A: Lundbeck will be exploiting our technologies for their research purposes.

 

Q: Are you going to be looking at more such in-licensing deals via UK subsidiary?

 

A: Yes, we will.

Q: The finalisation of the same will be announced in how much time?

A: We are negotiating with two other companies, so it might take about three-four months.

Q: In total, how much will your UK subsidiary contribute to your FY08 financials?

A: We do not expect much in this financial year. Like I said before, the fixed licensing fee is very nominal and it will be more of back ended royalty, which we would be looking for.