Pfizer, Indian firm strike deal on generics

Pfizer Inc., hoping to inject some new life into older medicines, has signed a deal with an Indian generics company to commercialize up to 38 cancer-fighting drugs in several major markets.

Strides Arcolab, an Indian generic-drug company, announced the deal Friday, but gave no financial details. The agreement calls for Pfizer to market oncology products in the European Union, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Korea, as well a sterile injectables in the United States.

New York-based Pfizer, which has one of its major research-and-development sites in Groton and New London, previously had an agreement with Strides Arcolab to sell 40 generic drugs in the United States.

"We are excited about extending our important partnership with Strides to reach an even larger global patient population," David Simmons, president and general manager of Pfizer's established products unit, said in a statement.

Strides has 14 manufacturing plants in six different countries, as well as a research-and-development team numbering 350 in Bangalore.

Generic products resulting from the deal are expected to first hit the market later this year or early next. The companies now have agreements to sell 45 off-patent medicines in the United States, and the Reuters news service put the overall market for these medicines both in America and abroad at about $18 billion.

Pfizer also has signed deals in the past year to market products with two other Indian generics firms: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. and Claris Lifesciences Ltd. In addition, it sought, without success, to buy German generics manufacturer Ratiopharm, a company that was snapped up in March by Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. for about $5 billion.

l.howard@theday.com