Mumbai: Biotech major Biocon on Monday said it will acquire a majority stake in a Germany-based pharmaceutical company for about 30 million Euros (over Rs173 crore).

Biocon said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the company AxiCorp GmbH, for making it a subsidiary of the former.

“AxiCorp is a key strategic investment for Biocon as it heralds our European foray for biosimilars like Recombinant Human Insulin,” Biocon Chairman and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said.

The acquisition would enable Biocon to market and distribute a range of pharmaceuticals, including generics, biosimilars and biologics in Germany and Europe.

With the investment in AxiCorp, Biocon would establish its presence in Europe to market its injectible insulin on its own.

“Both the companies share a common vision of affordable health care which we can deliver through a combination of Biocons low cost manufacturing and AxiCorps low cost distribution. AxiCorp would join Biocon group of companies as an autonomous subsidiary,” Shaw added.

AxiCorp is a specialised marketing and distribution company established in 2002 by a group of industry experts to address the lucrative generics and parallel distribution market in Germany and Europe.

Allegro Capital was the financial advisor to Biocon on this transaction.

Shares of Biocon were trading at Rs404.20, down 0.43% on the BSE.