Company Watch

Wyeth sorts out Prevenar mess

Sushmi Dey - Delhi

Following a major controversy that sparked off from the earlier announcement of Wyeth to relinquish its marketing rights for Prevenar vaccine, there is yet another news about Wyeth, the 51 percent Indian subsidiary of Wyeth USA, retaining the marketing rights for the vaccine.

The USA based Wyeth has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary in India recently and it had informed the Indian company that they will launch its patented product Prevenar, a pneumococcal vaccine to combat meningitis and blood infections and an original researched product of Wyeth through this wholly owned subsidiary. The marketing rights for India were transferred for Rs 22.6 crore based on the KPMG valuation.

Company sources said that though Wyeth has not yet made any official statement, the news has been flashed on the stock exchange notice board. The company has, reportedly, reached an agreement with the parent company to retain its right to market its product in India.

This change of decision is seen as shareholders' victory. Wyeth US's announcement, earlier, to launch Prevenar, a pneumococcal seven valent conjugate vaccine, through its wholly owned subsidiary in India resulted in an agitation from a group of minority shareholders. Reportedly, while they were planning to take the company to court for its move, Wyeth's decision to reverse and retain the rights has been appreciated.

According to shareholders, the vaccine has a potential to generate a yearly profit of over Rs 25 crore and the transfer of its marketing rights would have hurt Wyeth shareholders. However, company officials are not willing to divulge any such information on the vaccine. When contacted they said, “No decision has been taken as of now” and the launch is still in the pipeline.