Piramal Healthcare to Buy US Firm for $635 Million

Mumbai-based drugmaker Piramal Healthcare has agreed to buy a US-based healthcare data provider for $635 million to boost research and development, the company said on May 16, 2012, a month after it acquired the new molecules division of Germany's Bayer's.

Piramal has been looking to expand its R&D portfolio after it sold its formulations business to US-based Abbott Laboratories for $3.72 billion in 2010.

The company aims to close the acquisition of Decision Resources Group (DRG), based in Burlington, Massachusetts, by the end of June 30. The unit, with a team of about 300 analysts, is expected to bring in revenues of $160 million in 2012.

DRG, which provides web-enabled information using proprietary database to global healthcare companies for their R&D projects, is growing 20 percent a year and counts 48 of the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies as clients.