Searle India faces the prospect of losing licensing rights by December 1998, to a basket of eight drugs of GD Searle & Co, USA, the Monsanto group's pharmaceuticals outfit. GD Searle brands account for about Rs 40 crore to Rs 50 crore of Searle India's turnover.

The proposed AHP-Monsanto merger had complicated matters for the RPG group, given that the AHP group has a strong presence in the domestic pharma market through its subsidiary, Wyeth Lederle. "It is too early to say, but the breakdown of the AHP-Monsanto merger plans has certainly aroused speculation of chances of a further extension in GDSearle's current arrangement with the RPG group," industry analysts said. No official comment was available from the Searle India top brass.

In early September this year, Searle India chairman Harsh V Goenka had, at the company's annual general meeting, categorically stated that he "was not sure" if GD Searle would continue to license its brands to the company, though talks were still on.

He had, however, added that even if the eight GD Searle brands were taken away, Searle India still had 48 others in its portfolio and could consider launching the same products (as GD Searle) but with their own brand name.

Searle was also on course to handing back well known artifical sweetener brand, Equal, to GD Searle, though it was optimistic of continuing production of the product for the multinational. Equal is at present marketed by Heinz India and may be eventually handled by GD Searle's nutritional products arm, Nutrasweet.

Searle has also been preparing itself to face any eventuality with the registrationof new name RPG Lifesciences Ltd. The company is expected to commence business under the new name with effect from January 1999.

The Wall Street Journal had, on Wednesday, reported the collapse of the AHP-Monsanto merger plans. The report said that "trying to merge a tight-fisted, rigidly-run company like AHP with a big-spending, gambling-prone outfit like Monsanto would be a tall order." The merger, apparently, proved too big a strain to blend two dramatically different corporate cultures under chief executives with sharply contrasting styles.

The AHP group earlier operated through four subsidiaries in India: Cyanamid India, Wyeth India and John Wyeth and Wyeth India Pvt Ltd (now merged to form Wyeth Lederle) and a demerged agro-products company, Cyanamid Agro. Monsanto, on the other hand, operates in the country through three companies -- Monsanto India, which is held 100 per cent by Monsanto, USA, Monsanto Enterprises, a 100 per subsidiary of Monsanto India and Monsanto Chemicals, a 40 per centsubsidiary of Monsanto, USA. Besides, Monsanto recently acquired a 26 per cent stake in Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco).