eNewsWire

Actavis Group and Japan’s ASKA Pharmaceutical formally signed contracts recently establishing a new joint company called Actavis ASKA K.K. The new business will be headquartered in Tokyo.

The joint company intends to enter the Japanese generic pharmaceutical market right away in April 2009. ASKA will hold a 55 percent stake in the venture and Actavis will hold 45 percent.

“We are convinced this is the best way to enter the Japanese market,” says Actavis CEO Sigurdur Oli Olafsson. “We bring the power of a global generic pharmaceutical company to the table, while ASKA is an experienced local partner. We are very much looking forward to a long and successful partnership. The government’s policy to increase the share of generics during the next few years is key to our decision to enter at this time.”

Contributing to society by developing and providing innovative pharmaceutical products, ASKA Pharmaceutical is a research and development (R&D) orientated company located in Tokyo. ASKA concentrates its management resources on specific therapeutic areas.

Actavis is one of the world’s biggest generic pharmaceutical companies. Established in 1956, the group has more than 10,000 employees operating in over 40 countries around the globe. Actavis’ headquarters are in Iceland.

Actavis Group and ASKA Pharmaceutical formally signed the agreement establishing the new joint company: Actavis ASKA K.K following the signature of a preliminary agreement last November.

For further details, visit www.actavis.com

Entering the Irish market last week, Actavis plans to create up to 25 new local jobs over the next five years and to launch more than 120 generic drugs in Ireland, with the potential to save millions of euro off the country’s annual health bill.

The new roles Actavis will create are in addition to 11 corporate employees currently based in Ireland.

“Over the next five years, we plan to rapidly expand our offering in Ireland in all channels – hospital-specific, prescription and over the counter medicines,” says Actavis Ireland Managing Director Tony Hynds.

The arrival of Actavis into the Irish market, Hynds said, came at a time when the country was struggling to meet the rapidly rising cost of healthcare.

“In Ireland, Actavis has established a team with deep expertise in the local industry, people who understand the nature of the market here, and has given them the backing of a vast global product pipeline,” Hynds added.

Actavis launched a generic cancer treatment drug, Gemcitabine, on the Irish market last Monday. It was made available for prescription from 9th March, on day one when the patent for Gemcitabine expired in Ireland.

Actavis, the international generic pharmaceutical company, has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement, for a number of generic products, with J&M Pharma, Co Ltd, a Korean owned and operated pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Seoul, Korea. The agreement is an important step in building Actavis’ presence in the Korean generics market.

Actavis has operations in 40 countries, with 11,000 employees and is one of the world’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies specialising in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Actavis’ products are already marketed in the Asia Pacific region, in markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Commenting on this partnership Thomas Runkel, Vice President of Actavis in the Asia Pacific region said: “The partnership with J&M is an important milestone for our entrance into the fast growing Korean market. We look forward to working with J&M to bring our extensive generic product portfolio of first class generics onto the Korean market fast.”

Tae-Hwan Kim, President of J&M, said: “We are excited to enter into an exclusive distribution agreement with Actavis for selected generic products. We will strive to position Actavis as a trusted generic brand in the Korean market and make a success story with its esteemed products.”

Andrew Suh, CEO of Cosmo USA IBRC, Inc. (www.cosmo-usa.com), a life science industry consulting company, served an integral role in bringing Actavis and J&M together for this opportunity.

More information about Actavis Group can be found at www.actavis.com

Enquiries:
Actavis Asia/Pacific
Thomas Runkel
Vice President
Tel: (+62) 218 710311 ext 222
E-mail: trunkel@actavis.com

Actavis Group
Hjordis Arnadottir
Director, External Communications
Tel: (+354) 535 2300 / 840 7476
E-mail: harnadottir@actavis.com

Breaking the ground for a new solid oral dosage plant at Actavis’ current SOD site in Alathur, India. Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir, deputy CEO and G. Shankar, Country Manager, Actavis India.

Actavis has announced that three new construction projects are underway at Actavis in India. Actavis’ Deputy CEO, Guðbjörg Edda Eggertsdóttir recently broke the ground for a new pilot plant and a new API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) plant at Actavis’ existing API facility in Alathur, close to Chennai, India. These new facilities will enable Actavis API Alathur to scale up more products as well as to increase commercial volumes. On the same day, the Deputy CEO also broke the ground for a new SOD (solid oral dosage) plant at Actavis’ current SOD site in Alathur. This plant is to be built to international standards and will eventually have a capacity of 4 billion tablets. Construction is expected to be completed in 2009.

Actavis’ Executive Vice President of R&D, Stefan J. Sveinsson, has also inaugurated new labs at Ticel Bio Park in Chennai: a stability lab which has been setup as an independent unit to cater to stability requirements within the group. It has a capacity to handle 9000 samples per year; and laboratories for analytical development in connection with Actavis’ API R&D activities in Bangalore, India.

Commenting on the new wave of construction, Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir, Actavis’ Deputy CEO, said: “The API facility will be the first major manufacturing site for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients within the Group, and it is an important step for the company in controlling the full value chain of pharmaceutical products. This site will bring us an edge in the industry, will enable us to improve our service to our customers.

“Also with respect to the SOD facility many of our goals for growth in the future are tied to this manufacturing site, where we will produce first class pharmaceutical products for our markets in Europe and elsewhere. When complete this manufacturing site will be one of the largest within the group, and it will be designed and built to the most stringent standards to fulfil the requirements of the regulators.”

Actavis currently operates 22 manufacturing sites in 14 different countries.

About Actavis Group

Actavis is one of the world’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies specializing in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. The company has operations in 40 countries, with 11,000 employees.