The last few years have seen multinationals like Johnson & Johnson buy out Coldarin from Knoll, Smithkline Beecham acquire Crocin from Duphar-Interfran, Nicholas Pirmal buy Lacto-Calamine from Duphar and Knoll Pharma acquire Reckitt & Colman's Epilex brand. Though no details were available on the Eli Lilly brands shortlisted for selloff, the indications are that these are broadly in the area of anti-infectives and have a turnover of around Rs 20-30 crore. No official confirmation on the proposed selloff or the brand names could be got though market speculation has it that Knoll Pharma or Dr Reddy's Laboratories could be in the running for purchases.

Significantly, analysts heresay that if brand sales are being proposed, it could also indicate that the American multinational's joint venture with the Delhi-based Ranbaxy has probably not met the sales/profitability expectations of both partners.

Eli Lilly Ranbaxy is a 50:50 joint venture between the two partners and has been marketing a range of formulations like Illetin 30/70 for diabetes and Gemcite for cancer. More recently, Eli Lilly Ranbaxy was reportedly working on clinical trials on a new human insulin combination used for the treatment of diabetes.

"If Eli Lilly is planning to dispose of brands, it is clearly an indication that the venture is not in the best of health," an analyst with an Indian stockbroking house said. No official word on this aspect could be got.Ranbaxy and Eli Lilly have had a somewhat shaky relationship with both partners deciding to call off plans to undertake manufacturing activities through their research and development (R&D)-cum-production venture in India. This 50:50 joint venture was essentiallyformed in 1995 to manufacture bulk drugs to feed the US market. The duo also mutually called off their US-based joint venture, Lilly Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals initiated, to market dosage forms there.