Lupin, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in India, today announced the acquisition of 100% equity stake in ZAO 'Biocom' in Russia subject to certain closing conditions. The acquisition marks Lupin's foray into the Russian pharmaceutical market which recorded RUB 765 billion or nearly USD 13.75 billion in sales, placing it as one of the top 10 pharmaceutical markets in the world in 2014, according to IMS Health.

Established in 1991, Biocom is a fast growing generic pharmaceutical company with a major focus on therapies such as cardiovascular, central nervous system and antimicrobials for systemic use and also does contract manufacturing and secondary packaging.

Commenting on the acquisition, Vinita Gupta, chief executive officer of Lupin said, "We are excited about our entry into the Russian market through Biocom. Russia is an attractive market and this acquisition will also enable our expansion into neighboring markets as well as other Eastern European markets in the future."

Aleksandr Sergeyev, Biocom's executive officer, commented, "I am delighted with Biocoms association with Lupin. Having found, built and developed Biocom together with Igor Rudinskiy for so long, I firmly believe that the future and growth of Biocom would be best handled by the management and technology expertise that Lupin brings to table. I wish Biocom and Lupin the very best in their future endeavors."

Shares of the company declined Rs 8, or 0.43%, to settle at Rs 1,869.70. Total volume of shares traded on the bourses today was lower by 19.27% to 930,835 compared with 22-day average volume of 1,153,031.