Aurobindo Pharma transfers vaccine business to separate unit

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Aurobindo Pharma Ltd said in a regulatory filing on December 31 that it has transferred its vaccine business to a separate unit.

The vaccine business was transferred from Unit-18 to Auro Vaccines Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aurobindo Pharma, for Rs 299 crore. "The transfer of the business undertaking will be done for a lumpsum consideration of Rs 299 crores," the BSE filing read.

The agreement will be entered into on January 1, 2022, with Auro Vaccines Private Limited and the completion of the sale is estimated in the fourth quarter of FY 2021-22. The business transfer will be effective from January 1, 2022, onwards.

Additionally, the equity shares of Tergene Biotech Pvt Ltd, also a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aurobindo Pharma, was also transferred to Auro Vaccines for Rs 10.76 crore.

Notably, Aurobindo Pharma had recently got the DCGI nod to manufacture and distribute Molnupiravir, to be marketed as Molnaflu.

Molnupiravir has been approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the United States Food and Drug Administration, and Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to treat mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 in adults.

Aurobindo Pharma has been developing its own COVID-19 vaccine -- UB-612. The drugmaker had entered into an exclusive agreement with US biotech company COVAXX in December last year to develop and manufacture UB-612 for India and UNICEF.