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US pharma giant Pfizer and India’s Strides Arcolab have announced a new collaboration to commercialize off-patent sterile injectable and oral products in the United States.

These finished dosage form products will be licensed and supplied by Strides and Onco Laboratories Limited and Onco Therapies Limited, two joint ventures between Strides and Aspen, South Africa, in which each has a 50% ownership interest.

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The collaboration will see the production and marketing of 40 off-patent drugs, many of which are cancer medicine. The first of the products is expected to be launched in 2010.

Pfizer’s been moving in this direction for a while now. An “established products” division the company set up back in 2008 to focus on off-patent drugs now sells some 600 products, and the company has cut several such deals.

“This Strides collaboration is new and exciting, and we are encouraged about the potential of this relationship," said David Simmons, president and general manager of Pfizer’s Established Products Business Unit.

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“In addition, this agreement brings the total number of products in-licensed by our Established Products Business Unit to more than 200 -- resulting in a total business unit portfolio of approximately 600 high-quality, reliable, and cost effective products for patients.”

“Partnering with Pfizer enhances our ability to reach a larger base of customers and patients in need of quality treatment options,” said Arun Kumar, Strides Founder and Managing Director. “We have established a reputation for efficient formulation development and technologies, manufacturing, and operational flexibility and are looking forward to bringing these strengths to bear in our collaboration with Pfizer.”

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Strides Arcolab is a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bangalore, India that develops and manufactures a wide range of IP-led niche pharmaceutical products with an emphasis on sterile injectables.

The company has 14 manufacturing facilities across 6 countries, including its joint venture with Aspen in India and has a marketing presence in more than 60 countries in developed and emerging markets. Manufacturing is ably supported by a 350-scientist strong global R&D Centre located in Bangalore.

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Growth has slowed in the branded-drugs business, and the push is on in the developed world to slow the rise of health-care costs. Both of those factors are driving many of the big names in the drugs business to move further into generics. In the past few years, GlaxoSmithKline made a deal with the South African drug-maker Aspen to sell off-patent drugs in the developing world, Sanofi-Aventis bought several generics companies, and Merck set up a unit to sell copies of off-patent biotech drugs, writes Jacob Goldstein in Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog.

Source-Medindia
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