Another day, another deal for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries--or so reports the Japanese media. Reports are saying Teva is buying the country's third-largest generics producer, Taiyo. The price on the deal is ¥40 billion, or about $490 million, the Nikkei newspaper reports.
This wouldn't be Teva's first buyout in Japan. In late 2009, the Israeli company bought a stake in generics maker Taisho Pharmaceutical through its joint venture with Japan's KOWA. The Teva-KOWA partnership is aiming to build up to $1.1 billion in sales by 2015, with about a third of that growth coming through acquisitions. According to Nikkei, Teva appears to be planning to use Taiyo as a production hub, with Teva-KOWA focusing on sales.
The Japanese generics market is expected to grow markedly as the government institutes new measures to increase use of generics rather than costlier branded drugs. Currently, generics only account for 20 percent of the Japanese drug market, or about $9.85 billion. That's much lower than the generics utilization rates in the U.S. and Europe.
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