Drugmaker Lupin eyeing U.S., emerging market buys

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian drugmaker Lupin Ltd is looking for acquisitions in the United States and in emerging markets to expand its overseas operations, its chairman said on Wednesday.

Desh Bandhu Gupta said Mumbai-based Lupin, which bought a stake in a Japanese generic drugmaker last year, aimed to bolster its presence in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America through acquisitions of drug formulation companies.

"These markets are very rewarding and we are working on acquiring something ... It will happen this year itself," he told reporters, after releasing quarterly results that beat expectations and lifted its shares more than 4 percent.

Lupin is also hoping to clinch a brand in the United States, the largest drug market, by the end of the fiscal year, said Vinita Gupta, president of Lupin's U.S. unit.

"We want to build on our Suprax portfolio. We are looking at brands, or companies with brands, that will add $20-$25 million to revenue," she said. "Our focus is the paediatric market."

Suprax is the company's antibiotic brand in the United States.

Last year, Lupin acquired a majority stake in Japanese drugmaker Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry Co Ltd and Gujarat-based Rubamin Laboratories Ltd, a maker of raw materials for bulk drugs on a contract manufacturing basis.

Lupin posted a net profit of 961 million rupees ($23 million) for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March, above analysts' expectations for 858.8 million.

The profit was 32 percent lower than the year-ago's 1.41 billion rupees, which was bolstered by a one-time gain of 750 million rupees.