Ranbaxy Expands By Acquiring A Generic Company In Belgium

Indian pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., announced on Thursday about its overseas expansion of acquiring a generics company, Ethimed NV of Belgium.

This is the fourth acquisition announced by the company in a week. The earlier ones included the takeover of Romania's Terapia for $324 million, GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Italian generic business and the purchase of the rights and assets to Senetek Plc's auto-injector device by the US based wholly owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy.

'The acquisition (of Ethimed) follows similar strategic moves by Ranbaxy previously in the larger European markets,' the company said in a statement.

The move will allow 'Ranbaxy to anticipate local market dynamics and capitalise on the changing business landscape, in the Benelux countries'.

Belgium is the seventh largest pharmaceutical market in Europe.

Ranbaxy plans to manage operations in the Benelux territories, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, out of Ethimed's present location.

'Ethimed offers Ranbaxy a ready and robust distribution network to exploit new product opportunities in the future. It also provides the company, a strong base from where we can manage and expand our operations in the Benelux countries,' said Peter Burema, president of Ranbaxy for Europe, CIS, Africa and Latin America.

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‘We see this acquisition as strategic to our business in Europe.'

Ethimed is an established generics company in Belgium with a significant customer network, especially among pharmacies. It has over 20 product registrations and is ranked 10th among generic companies in Belgium.

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--Edited IANS