On March 23, 2020, CCI approved a transaction notified by Mylan N.V. (‘Mylan’) and Upjohn Inc. (‘Upjohn’).^[1] The transaction involved (i) separation of a portion of Pfizer Inc.’s business and its transfer to Pfizer Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary, Upjohn; and (ii) transfer of all of Mylan’s assets and liabilities to Upjohn through a merger or asset sale. The combined business would be wholly owned by Upjohn and renamed as “Viatris”.

Both parties are active in the business of supplying active pharmaceutical ingredients (‘APIs’) and finished dosage products (‘FDPs’) (primarily prescription drugs) in India. Upjohn is present in two therapeutic categories in which Mylan intends to launch a product. CCI did not find any competition concerns on this overlap because of the presence of other competitors.

Mylan also sells certain APIs (upstream market) which could be used by Upjohn to manufacture its FDPs (downstream market) such as Amlogard, Viagra, and Daxid. Mylan’s market share in the upstream market in India was between 0-10% and it faces competition from significant players including Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Hetero Drugs Limited, Cadila Healthcare Limited, Aurobindo Pharma, and Teva Pharmaceuticals. Upjohn’s market share in the downstream market for Amlogard, Viagra, and Daxid ranged between 0-10% at ATC3 and ATC4 levels.^[2] Further, the market share for Daxid was between 20-25% and 30-35% at a molecular level. However, because of the presence of large competitors in the market, such as Mankind Pharma, Zydus Cadila, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, and Ranbaxy, CCI decided to approve the transaction.

[1] Combination Registration No. C-2020/01/720.

[2] Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical or ‘ATC’ is a form of classification of medicinal/pharmaceutical products based on the particular medicine’s indications, therapeutic use, composition and mode of actions, maintained by the European Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Association  and IQVIA (formerly Intercontinental Medical Statistics).