New Delhi, (Samajweekly) The Serum Institute of India (SII) paid Rs 3,000 crore for a 50 per cent stake in the Indian joint venture SCHOTT Kaisha from former co-owners Kairus Dadachanji and Shapoor Mistry.
IANS has learnt that of the Rs 3,000 crore, Rs 1,500 crore each went to the two promoters, Dadachanji and Mistry.
Earlier, while the deal was announced on August 17, the amount was not disclosed.
When contacted, SII responded by saying “no comments”.
SCHOTT Kaisha is a joint venture between Indian partners and Germany’s specialty glass company SCHOTT AG. It is a leading Indian manufacturer of pharma packaging products such as vials, syringes, ampoules and cartridges used to package life-saving medications.
Working together in the joint venture opens a new chapter in the successful partnership of Serum and SCHOTT. The companies have had a strong business relationship – and both have been playing a crucial role during the pandemic. From the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak Serum rose to the challenge of developing and/or manufacturing live-saving vaccines, such as COVISHIELD and COVOVAX.
To this day, the company has filled and delivered hundreds of millions of doses to India and the world. On the packaging end, SCHOTT has already exceeded its target to deliver vials for more than 2 billion vaccine doses through 2021. The company is providing glass vials globally to key vaccine manufacturers. The fact that SCHOTT has an integrated value chain, covering also the glass tubing the packaging is made of, further helped to secure the supply chain.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO Serum Institute of India said: “Even the best medication can’t reach the patient without the right packaging. Securing this supply chain is of strategic importance. SCHOTT is the perfect partner for us to do this because of their expertise and global network. As a longtime customer, we use their vials, ampoules and syringes to store our vaccines including COVISHIELD. Working even closer together is in the best interest of global health.”
SCHOTT is looking forward to the cooperation with the new partner.
Frank Heinricht, CEO SCHOTT says: “As India has steadily established its position as a global pharmaceutical hub, we are delighted to strengthen our footprint within the Indian pharma supply chain. We are looking forward to strong impulses from this partnership. It is an excellent example of shifting towards new cooperation models, with greater synergies between pharma manufacturing and packaging production”.
