Sun Pharma has acquired an anti-acne brand that at one time had a billion dollar in sales in the US and was endorsed by celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Katy Perry.

Sun Pharma's US arm Taro has acquired a skin care company Alchemee for USD 90 million from derma focused pharma company Galderma. Alchemee which was till last year known as The Proactiv Company has the Proactiv line of products used to treat acne.

The three-step regime which is available over the counter consists of a cleanser, toner and lotion with the main ingredient being the commonly used benzoyl peroxide for acne. This brand was introduced in 1995 and managed to hit sales of USD 1 billion in 2015.

The brand however has seen sales declining. The sales according to reports have fallen from USD 257 million in 2020 to around USD 165 million in 2021. The reason for the decline include factors such as the cosmo derma business being impacted due to COVID-19 and increasing competition in the cosmo derma space.

Alchemee in fact rebranded itself in November last year and has introduced brands beyond acne such as restorative elements for example used for skin discoloration.

The acquisition is viewed as positive. Taro has acquired global rights, hence will give access to other markets the brand is present in such as Canada and Japan. Additionally Taro will also get access to an omni-channel platform that the brand is available on. It is also expected to strengthen the OTC business for Taro at a time when the prescription business is seeing pressure.

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