Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd
Intas, founded in 1985 as "Intas Laboratories Private Ltd", is a vertically-integrated global pharmaceutical formulation development, manufacturing and marketing company, based in India. Intas is present in 80+ countries worldwide, and operates 14 formulation manufacturing facilities, of which 7 are located in India, and the rest in the UK and Mexico.ref
In European markets, Intas' business model comprises marketing and out-licensing with supply agreements and contract manufacturing. It has ~300 out-licensing agreements with long-term supply agreements, and has marketing setups in 6 western European countries, namely the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France and Italy.ref
Company
Ownership
The Chudgar Family have a controlling interest in Intas. Hasmukh Chudgar founded the group; his 3 sons Binish, Nimish and Urmish. Private equity firms ChrysCapital, Blackstone and Advent International Corporation are vying for a minority stake in generic drugmaker Intas Pharmaceuticals. ChrysCapital already holds 11.5% stake.ref Apr.2012 India's 100 richest are all billionaires.ref, Sept.2014 Bloomberg profile
Corporate Grouping
UP = Intas Pharmaceutics Ltd, reg. India
- Accord Healthcare Ltd, CH
- Generic Manufacturers Association Ltd, t/a British Generic Mnf. Association, CH
- Jan.2017: Acquired Accord UK Ltd.
- Actavis Ireland Ltd acq'd by Intas Pharma from Teva Pharma, via Accord.ref, Jan.2017,ref
- Actavis UK Ltd aka Accord-UK Ltd
- Oct.2016: Intas scooped up Teva's assets in the UK and Ireland.ref, ref
- Subsids: AR-2018, p.39,45,++
- 2017/2018: Accord integrated Actavis (UK and Ireland) businesses acquired from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. The combined entity is now one of the largest generic companies in the UK.
- Jul.2017: Accord Healthcare acquired Essential Pharmaceuticals LLC.ref Oddly, Accord's filed accounts at Companies House make no mention whatsoever of this. "Audited" by Ernst & Young.
Accord Healthcare Ltd
- Jul.2017: Essential Pharmaceuticals LLC, a New Jersey-based
- Apr.2017: Accord Healthcare: Actavis UK was rebranded. ref, Actavis
- Jan.2017: Actavis UK was sold to Intas Pharmaceuticals via its subsidiary Accord Healthcare, as part of an European Commission requirement before Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd was able to buy the Actavis Generics business.ref
Essential Pharmaceuticals LLC
- Jul.2017: Accord Healthcare acquired Essential Pharmaceuticals. Under the terms of the agreement, along with the Essential company, Accord acquired the rights to sell Custodiol HTK Solution in the USA and Canada.
- 2006: Essential Pharmaceuticals acquired Custodiol HTK.
- 2000: Custodiol HTK was launched. Custodiol.com
British Generic Manufacturers Association
Directors are Peter Ballard and Warwick Lawson Smith. Its PSC is Accord Healthcare Ltd - but there is NO mention of the BGMA in Accord's a/cs, or vice versa.Links: About, Join, Chair, About Generics
See also Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
British Biosimilars Association
We-the-public are not permitted to know who the BBA's members are, even though it asserts that "membership ... comprises a wide group of manufacturers active in the development and production of biosimilar medicines including those who have successfully manufactured and sold them in the UK for the past ten years".
"With the increasing weight of new legislation coming from Europe, the BGMA continues to work closely with MHRA to ensure its drafting and UK implementation is well managed, and minimises red tape and over regulation." ref The BBA threw a major hissy fit when the govt proposed pharmaceutical pricing that would include biosimilars in the scope of its price controls.ref,ref
Generic Medicines
Pricing
See Memorandum of Understanding between NHS England, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA), for how this works.ref
Patents
When a drug becomes off-patent, competition from generic manufacturers is a very efficient way of driving down prices. However, there can be a number of barriers which prevent generic competition. These include the abuse of patents. A European Commission Sector Inquiry report from 2009 said that applications to the European Patent Office (EPO) nearly doubled between 2000 and 2007. The Commission acknowledged that the increase was partly due to 'defensive patent strategies' with the objective of 'delaying or blocking entry of generic medicines'. ref
Biosimilars
Affordable follow-on versions of several medicines exist across the European Union and are creating increased competition which delivers significant benefits and savings. They are approved as biosimilar medicines by the European Commission, on the recommendation of its scientific advisory body, the European Medicines Agency, under the existing Centralised Procedure. Approval is granted on the basis that they have demonstrated comparable quality, safety and efficacy to the originator or reference product. All biopharmaceutical medicines, including the reference product, are produced from living organisms and are therefore sensitive to manufacturing processes. Biosimilars are approved by the same regulatory authority utilising the same scientific rigour as is applied to their reference product. Prior to approval, they undergo rigorous analytical, pre-clinical, clinical and other testing, and substantial post-marketing studies are also required as a condition of approval. Competition from biosimilar medicines increases patients' access to vitally important medicines by reducing their cost.ref
Articles
- Jul.06.2018: Common heart drug recalled in 22 countries for possible cancer link. A common drug used to control blood pressure and help prevent heart failure is being recalled in 22 countries because it contains a chemical that poses a potential cancer risk. Pharmacies in the UK are advised to recall valsartan batches containing medicines made by Dexcel Pharma Ltd and Accord Healthcare. Jen Christensen, '. See also Valsartan.
- Jan.29.2017: Cancer drugs price rise 'costing NHS millions'. UK prices for generic cancer drugs have risen sharply in the past 5 years. Researchers the European Cancer Congress said NHS negotiations with drug companies were failing to contain costs. Drugs start off being on-patent, and their high prices allow pharmaceutical companies to profit from their investments in research and development. After patents have expired and generic versions are sold, the theory is that drug prices should fall close to the cost of production. However, because of high drug prices, the NHS is often not able to approve some new cancer drugs for use; new treatments then have to be rationed. (list of price rises). Dr Andrew Hill, senior research fellow in pharmacology and therapeutics at the University of Liverpool, said "We have found that some companies take over the supply of some generic cancer medicines and then raise the price progressively". Warwick Smith, director-general of the British Generic Manufacturers Association, said the actual prices paid by hospitals were usually much lower than the list prices. BBC News.
