Pharma, IT firms stand firm in US

Despite the uncertainty of a Donald Trump regime, Indian companies proved they have some inbuilt resilience. New JV to attract Indian investment to US

A non-resident Indian (NRI) has formed a joint venture with an American investment firm to attract Indian investment to the US and create job opportunities in areas such as New England and Baltimore. Satish Jha, the chairman of the diversified The Jha Group (TJG) announced a partnership with the US-based Ashcroft Sullivan Economic Development Centers (ASEDC) to bring investment and economic opportunities to India, under the EB-5 programs, stimulating job creation in the US. The new JV has been named as Ashcroft Sullivan Jha. Jha said: “The principals of the new joint venture, Ashcroft Sullivan Jha, have set up offices in New Delhi and Goa and are planning to open offices in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chandigarh to educate investors about Green Cards for immigrants from India through the EB-5 program." Hyderabad's Cyient to buy US firm

Hyderbad-based IT firm Cyient Ltd has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent shares of Florida-based Certon Software, an innovative provider of full product life-cycle engineering services. Cyient is a provider of engineering design, manufacturing, digital and technology services and has over 13,800 employees across 21 countries. Certon marks Cyient′s fifth acquisition in the last two-and-a-half years as part of its Design-Build-Maintain strategy. The Indian company said it has a strong cash position of $127 million and will continue to look for acquisitions. Incorporated in 2006, Certon Software has strong Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and System on Chip (SoC) full product life-cycle capabilities and continues to build IP tools for various portions of the Avionics value chain, especially independent verification and validation (V&V). Lupin in US generic drug launch

Indian pharma major Lupin Ltd has launched generic drug Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine Succinate) in the US market. “We have launched generic Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine Succinate) extended-release tablets, 50 mg and 100 mg having received an approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier. This is the AB rated generic equivalent of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals' Pristiq tablets,” a company statement said. It is indicated for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Pristiq tablets had annual US sales of approximately $859.9 million. Lupin describes itself as an innovation-led transnational pharmaceutical company developing and delivering a wide range of branded and generic formulations, biotechnology products and APIs globally. The company is a significant player in the cardiovascular, diabetology, asthma, pediatric, CNS, GI, anti-infective and holds global leadership position in the anti-TB segment. Tech Mahindra to buy US healthcare group

India's leading software services firm Tech Mahindra Ltd on Monday said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CJS Solutions Group LLC, a US-based healthcare information technology consulting company. The deal values CJS Solutions at an enterprise value of $110 million, Tech Mahindra said in a stock exchange filing. Tech Mahindra will make an upfront payment of $89.5 million for purchase of an 84.7 per cent stake in the firm. The balance stake of 15.3 per cent will be acquired over a period of three years, it said. CJS Solutions Group operates as HCL Group and works mainly with healthcare service providers in the US and UK. It focuses on providing end-to-end implementation of electronic health record (EHR) and electronic medical record (EMR) software, training and support services. TVS Group firm plans overseas plant The TVS Group's flagship firm Sundaram-Clayton Ltd (SCL), a leading Indian manufacturer and supplier of aluminium cast products to global automotive OEMs, has unveiled plans for a new overseas plant. The company is to also invest $61.5 million (Rs 400 crore) over three years to expand its facilities in India. This will increase its capacity from 60,000 MT to 70,000 MT. The company will also set up its first manufacturing facility outside of India with an additional investment of over $50 million (Rs 350 crore) to create 10,000 MT of capacity over a period of five years. The facility will be located in in Dorchester County, South Carolina, US. Currently, the US contributes a major share of SCL's export revenue. SCL has four manufacturing plants in India and is known for its robust manufacturing expertise driven by TQM, TPM and lean practices. The planned investment will enable the company to cater to the growth that it expects from the Indian market. Aurobindo Pharma plans US factory

India's Aurobindo Pharma plans to set up a factory in the US for injectable products. India's roughly $15 billion pharmaceutical industry supplies about 30 per cent of the medicines sold in the US and relies on the country for the bulk of its export revenue. However, the new Donald Trump administration has been pushing for greater local production. “With the current landscape of what's happening with the US White House administration, and some of the things that may change there, clearly, we don't think having capacity in the US would be detrimental at this point,” Aurobindo Pharma's US chief, Bob Cunard, told an earnings briefing. India's fourth biggest drugmaker by sales, makes more than half its revenue in the United States selling everything from HIV/AIDS medicines to anti-bacterials to schizophrenia drugs. It makes tablets in New Jersey but much of its US supply still comes from its six factories in India. Lupin plans 25 new global launches

Mumbai-headquartered drug major Lupin expects to launch around 25 products in the US by next year. The firm launched four products in the US market during the third quarter of last year and has also received 11 approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) during the period. It now has a portfolio of 128 generic products in the US market. Lupin MD Nilesh Gupta said the company's focus remains on the speciality drugs business in the US. He added: "Generic products like Fortamet and Glumetza have boosted our sales in the US market but with competition coming in with other companies expected to launch products in same category, we could see US sales to get muted than otherwise." Both Fortamet and Glumetza are anti-diabetes products, which are among the key growth drivers of the company. India's WNS acquires Health Help

WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS) (NYSE: WNS), a leading Indian provider of global Business Process Management (BPM) services, acquired US-based HealthHelp, an industry leader in care management. HealthHelp works to help improve patient outcomes and drive long-term sustainable cost savings for the healthcare industry. The company's solutions are delivered by combining a proprietary technology platform rooted in evidence-based medical research, high-end predictive analytics, and deep healthcare industry expertise. WNS' CEO Keshav Murugesh said: “With the acquisition of HealthHelp, WNS has taken a major step forward in strengthening our end-to-end healthcare and insurance BPM offerings. WNS plans to leverage HealthHelp's industry-leading capability in care management to address the needs of payor, provider and insurance organisations.” Cherrill Farnsworth, HealthHelp's CEO, added: “We look forward to jointly creating new and enhanced industry-specific solutions which should enable us to reduce the long-term costs of healthcare, improve outcomes for payors, providers and patients, and grow our business.”