Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (India) has announced that its European organisation, acting through its Czech subsidiary Medicamenta, has signed agreements with Actavis, the international generic pharmaceutical company from Iceland, and Biovena (an affiliate of Actavis in Poland) to acquire 7 pharmaceutical brands in Poland with effect from July 1, 2008. The acquisition of the products from these two different companies for an undisclosed sum will provide Glenmark its first access to the growing Polish market, the largest pharmaceutical market in Central & East Europe.

In June 2008, Glenmark had established its new sales and marketing organisation, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Sp. z o.o., and appointed Wojciech Smoczynski as country manager in Poland and Ukraine.

Glenn Saldanha, managing director & CEO, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited commented, "This portfolio acquisition will accelerate our growth in a very promising Central & East European market. The Polish market has good potential for branded generic products and Glenmark will now have the necessary front-end and the product range to access and develop in this exciting market."

Guy Clark, president of Glenmark Europe added, "After the acquisition of Medicamenta in 2007, which gave access to the Czech and Slovakia markets, and the establishment earlier this year of a company in Romania, this is another major development for Glenmark in the European region. The acquisition of this product portfolio fits well with Glenmark's overall strategy for increasing revenue and accelerating growth in a key strategic market like Poland."

Glenmark's estimated sales of the acquired product portfolio for FY 09 is US$ 15 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Medicamenta will receive all marketing authorisations and trademark rights in Poland for the products, and will sell the products directly to the Polish market through its appointed distributors, and will market the products through Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Sp. z o.o.

The largest products in the new portfolio are Cital, the leading brand of [the anti-depressant] citalopram in Poland, and Lamotrix (lamotrigine), a leading treatment for the management of epilepsy. Together these products comprise about 50 per cent of the total sales of Glenmark's newly-acquired portfolio.