Company Watch

Ranbaxy wins UK SFO case

Our News Bureau - Mumbai

Ranbaxy Laboratories announced that the UK Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) prosecution of its UK subsidiary, Ranbaxy UK Ltd (RUKL), has been quashed by the English Crown Court. The Court also declined an application by the SFO for permission to appeal to the English Court of Appeal, although the SFO retains a right to appeal to the Court of Appeal directly.

The company is committed to provide high quality generic medicines at affordable prices to its customers and patients throughout the world.

Recently, Ranbaxy was in the news for its merger with Daiichi Sankyo. This was followed by intense speculation that the agreement between Daiichi Sankyo, Ranbaxy and the Singh family, the largest controlling shareholders of Ranbaxy, would fall through due to the US Department of Justice's (DoJ) allegations that for some products sold in the US the company used raw materials from unapproved sources. Meanwhile, the company denied the allegations of distribution of adulterated and misbranded products in US and termed the allegations 'baseless'.

Due to the speculation, share prices of the company went into a tailspin, causing Malvinder Mohan Singh, the CEO and Managing Director, Ranbaxy, to clarify that Daiichi Sankyo, Ranbaxy and the Singh family stand by the deal and confirm that the terms of the deal remain unchanged. All the synergies expected to accrue to the combine, remain intact as before.

He further said that no legal proceedings in the sense of a prosecution have been initiated. The company continues to cooperate with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), in regards to the investigation and has agreed to produce the specific documents sought by the action.