Daiichi Sankyo Company and Ranbaxy Laboratories announced plans to leverage Ranbaxy's presence in Romania and South Africa to market Tavanic (levofloxacin), the synthetic antibacterial agent originally discovered by Daiichi Sankyo.

Daiichi Sankyo entered into a licensing agreement with sanofi-aventis in 1993 for the manufacture and sales of levofloxacin covering certain territories including Europe, Africa, Middle East, South America and part of Asia, and since that time sanofi-aventis has launched the product in more than 90 countries as Tavanic. Early this year, Daiichi Sankyo and sanofi-aventis (collectively "the partners") have agreed to transfer the marketing rights of Tavanic in Romania and South Africa from sanofi-aventis to Ranbaxy. The transfer is expected to be effective in August 2010 for Romania, and in January 2012 for South Africa. Given their long-standing relationship, the partners agreed that sanofi-aventis will continue to manufacture finished products of Tavanic for these countries. Commercialization of Tavanic by sanofi-aventis remains unchanged in the other territories.

"We are delighted to announce another synergistic business development created through our cooperation with Ranbaxy," said Joji Nakayama, president & CEO of Daiichi Sankyo. "We are committed to fully realizing the potential of our Hybrid Business Model, and will continue to explore further collaborations with Ranbaxy."

Remarking on the development, Atul Sobti, CEO and managing director of Ranbaxy, said, "Ranbaxy has a significant presence and position in Romania and South Africa. As part of our commitment to deliver greater value through the Hybrid Business Model, we are pleased to offer Tavanic, an innovative product of Daiichi Sankyo, in these markets. This will also position us better in the overall pharma market."

Levofloxacin is an oral synthetic antibacterial agent of the fluoroquinolone class that is used to treat a broad range of infections. Originally discovered by Daiichi Sankyo, levofloxacin was first launched in Japan in 1993 under the brand name Cravit. Levofloxacin is currently available in more than 120 countries worldwide through licensing agreements with prestigious partners, such as Johnson & Johnson, sanofi-aventis, and GlaxoSmithKline.