Sun To Tap Daiichi Sankyo To Sell Ranbaxy Drugs In Japan

Daiichi Sankyo, which sold Ranbaxy Laboratories to Sun Pharmaceutical Industries for $4 billion earlier this year, is about to become re-involved with the company it divested. Sun plans to partner with Daiichi Sankyo to help market Ranbaxy drugs in a Japanese market still partial to branded products despite the wide availability of generics. Sun hopes to launch the products in Japan within three or four years of completion of the Ranbaxy deal. Sun also plans to take advantage of Ranbaxy's exclusive marketing rights in the U.S. to bring two generics to this market within a year of completing the merger. They are versions of AstraZeneca's Nexium (esomeprazole) gastrointestinal drug and Roche's Valcyte (valganciclovir), a transplant antiviral. (Click here for more