Sanofi-aventis and Merieux Alliance have signed a strategic agreement for the acquisition of Merieux Alliance’s French subsidiary, ShanH, by Sanofi Pasteur. ShanH owns a majority stake in vaccine company, Shantha Biotechnics (Shantha) based in Hyderabad, India.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-aventis Group, will support Shantha’s ongoing development as a platform to address the need for affordable vaccination in international markets.
The transaction, set to close before the end of the third quarter, values Shantha at E550 million. For the current fiscal year, sales of Shantha are expected to be around $90 million. Sales are expected to grow significantly given the commercial resources of Sanofi Pasteur, and through the development and launch of Shantha’s pipeline of new vaccines.
Christopher Viehbacher, CEO of Sanofi-aventis, said: “Shantha provides Sanofi Pasteur with a portfolio of new vaccines in development which complement Sanofi Pasteur’s current vaccines, positioning the company to accelerate its growth in strategically important emerging markets. The state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities allow Sanofi Pasteur to gain high quality capacity in order to enable us to provide important vaccines at affordable prices to many people around the world. Our commitment to this objective is highlighted by the creation of a new Strategic Committee which I am delighted to announce will be chaired by Alain Merieux”.