Pharma major Cipla Ltd on Friday said it will acquire 21.05 per cent stake for Rs 25 crore in Archira Labs Pvt Ltd, which is engaged in development and commercialisation of point of care (PoC) medical test kits in India. The company has signed definitive agreements with Achira Labs for purpose, Cipla said in regulatory filing.
"This investment will facilitate a Cipla entity's strategic participation in the PoC diagnostics and AMR (antimicrobial resistance) space through the design, development, and manufacturing of microfluidics-based technologies",
it said.
Cipla CEO, One India Business, Achin Gupta said, "This investment will further our commitment of bringing innovative, affordable and quality diagnostic solutions for all. We are guided by our purpose of Caring for Life and will continue to make strategic investments to ensure access to point of care test kit solutions".
A PoC that enables rapid identification of the bug causing an infection would be extremely helpful in choosing the appropriate antibiotic early in the treatment process.
Cipla said that the transaction is expected to be completed within 60 days from "the signing of definitive agreements or such other date mutually agreed between the parties and will be subject to conditions precedent set out in definitive agreements".
Source: Economic Times
