AstraZeneca teams up with Torrent in Generics

AstraZeneca Plc signed an agreement with Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. to brand and market 18 of the Indian drug maker medicines in 9 emerging economies, marking the U.K. drug maker’s first generic-drug partnership. Under the terms of the alliance, AstraZeneca may purchase additional product licenses and enter new markets with Torrent. 
 
AstraZeneca is expanding in so-called branded generics as it seeks to boost sales in emerging markets to 25 percent of annual revenue by 2014, from 13 percent in 2009. Branded generics is a way to accelerate growth in emerging markets.
 
AstraZeneca follows U.K. peer GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Sanofi-Aventis SA of France in its foray into the growing market for lower-priced copied medicines as drug makers seek generic- drug acquisitions and product deals to cushion the loss of sales from medicines that have lost patent protection.