Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), the world's largest generic drug manufacturer, is seeking acquisitions in Asia in order to boost sales there and expand production, "Bloomberg" reports, quoting two of the company's senior executives.
Teva CFO Eyal Desheh told the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, “A lot of the future growth of the generic industries is going to happen in Asia. The population is very large.”
In 2011, Teva acquired a 57% stake in Japan-based Taiyo Pharmaceutical Industry for $460 million in cash.
More purchases may follow, Desheh added. “The key is very local businesses. We’ll have to go one by one, a lot of footwork, country by country. None of these will be huge acquisitions and this push may take a few years.” He listed countries such as China, India, Philippines, Vietnam and Korea."
"Other than Asia, Brazil is a potential major market that Teva needs to get into for a deal. We will find a way to do it.”
Last week, Teva named Jeremy Levin, a former executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. who helped develop research collaborations for the New York-based pharmaceutical firm, as its new CEO.
Teva CEO Americas William Marth observed that while generic medicines remain the key focus at Teva, it is likely that the company will generate more deals involving companies with experimental medicines once the new CEO starts in May.
Marth said, “I think there will be a focus on our branded business to create value for Teva over the mid-term to long-term."
Marth added that until Levin’s arrival, Teva will continue to pursue business development activities. “I don’t want people to think that between now and May it will shut down. We are pursuing some interesting things right now on a product level.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 12, 2012
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