Cadila in distribution deal with French company

New Delhi, Apr 5 (UNI) Indian pharma company Cadila Healthcare Ltd today said it has entered a distribution agreement with Evolupharm, the second largest pharmacy distribution channel in France.

The Ahmedabad-based company has also accepted a 7-million-euro offer from France's Aerocid for 29 products from Cadila's branded business, originally aquired from Alpharma of France in 2003.

The moves will significantly strengthen Cadila's presence in the French Generics market, valued at 1.5 billion Euro. The French market is growing at the rate of 24 per cent per annum.

The agreement with Evolupharm creates additional distribution strength for Zydus France by providing an access to 2250 more pharmacists and supplements its existing marketing force.

Zydus France SAS currently markets 76 generic presentations and expects to launch 30 products over the next two years.

About Aerocid's offer, Zydus Cadila Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj R Patel said, ''We have identified the pure generics business as one of the key growth drivers. We see several opportunities for growth in the French Generics market that we would like to aggressively pursue and therefore have decided not to have a divided focus in this key market.'' The 29 Cadila products were non-core assets for the Zydus group and were originaly acquired from Alpharma of France in 2003 for 3.7 million Euros.

Over the last two years, Zydus Cadila has made significant progress in establishing the generics business in France following its entry into the market with 43 generic presentations in 2004.

The group's formulation manufacturing facilities at Moraiya and API manufacturing facility at Dabhasa have been approved by AFFSAPS, the French Regulatory Agency, thus clearing the way for generics to be manufactured in India.

The group has more than 30 new products and 28 site transfer products in the pipeline which would add substantial revenue and cost competitiveness to the operations in France.

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