Device Manufacturer Piramal to Acquire Research Company Decision Resources Group

Mumbai, India-based Piramal Healthcare, the flagship company in the Piramal Group, has agreed to purchase Decision Resources Group (DRG) based in Burlington, Mass. The deal is valued at approximately $635 million.

Piramal Healthcare is a medical device and drug manufacturing company that has a bio-orthopedics division as well as an imaging division. The company produces BST CarGel, used to regenerate cartilage.

DRG provides Web-enabled research, predictive analytics via proprietary databases and consulting services to the global healthcare industry. The company is focused on three market segments: biopharma, market access business, and medical technology business, providing actionable insights and data on the medical device markets. DRG’s products include detailed market assessments based on a specialized network of more than 125,000 healthcare professionals (primarily physicians), proprietary databases of market information and detailed analytical reports on specific therapeutic areas.

After the sale of its healthcare solutions business to Abbott Laboratories in May 2010 for $3.8 billion, Piramal Healthcare has embarked on a strategy to acquire global growth businesses with sustainable returns, company officials noted.

“The global healthcare industry is facing several challenges including rising research costs, lower drug approval rates, mounting regulatory pressures and increasingly complex reimbursement models,” said Ajay Piramal, chairman of Piramal Healthcare. “The need for specialist information is critical and the demand is growing. DRG’s portfolio of products is widely regarded as the gold standard of information.”

After the acquisition is complete, Piramal Healthcare intends to operate DRG as an independent business. The transaction is expected to close by June 30, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions.