Abbott Labs pays 3.7 bn dollars to buy into Mumbai's Piramal Healthcare

London, May 22 (ANI): US drug giant Abbott Laboratories has bought into the domestic business of India's Piramal Healthcare for a whopping 3.7 billion dollars.

Fending off competition from other drug companies like Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Aventis and Pfizer, Abbott won the auction bid for Piramal. The deal reflects the heightened interest Western firms have displayed in the rapidly growing Indian drug market.

"It's a race. These markets are so significant in the future growth sources for our industry that it's important for us to be there early and in a meaningful, strong way," the Daily Express quoted Miles White, CEO of Abbott, as saying.

Piramal will retain its manufacturing business which supplies other drug makers around the world, as well as other operations including consumer products and bulk drugs manufacturing. (ANI)