The UK major has purchased the right to sell 18 of Torrent’s portfolio of generic pharmaceuticals in nine “key emerging markets” under its own branding. Torrent will continue to manufacture the products in question, and any others that are added to the deal in future, at its facilities in Chhatral and Baddi.
The new agreement marks AstraZeneca’s entry into the generics field and is in keeping with recent deals made by Big Pharma peers in the face of impending patent loss for blockbuster products.
The deal also comes shortly after the UK firm announced plans to cut a further 8,000 jobs by 2014, in a move which most observers suggested is designed to cut costs ahead of patent loss for key drugs like Pulmicort and Arimidex.