Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Andrx Corporation jointly announced that they have entered into a strategic collaboration to develop and market generic oral contraceptive pharmaceutical products.

Under the terms of the agreement, Teva will receive exclusive marketing rights in the US and Canada to Andrx's line of generic oral contraceptive products currently pending regulatory approval. Andrx will be responsible for all formulations, US regulatory submissions, and manufacturing of products covered under the agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The agreement also provides Teva with an option to acquire similar marketing rights in the US and Canada to additional oral contraceptive products that are currently in development but have not yet been submitted for regulatory approval as well as other future oral contraceptive products that the parties agree upon.

Larry Rosenthal, Andrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s president said, "Andrx is very pleased to be working with Teva, one of the premier generic companies, in this unique marketplace, and believes that this collaboration will enhance the marketability of our oral contraceptive product line thereby increasing Andrx's overall profitability."

Israel Makov, Teva's president and CEO commented: "We are pleased to be partnering with Andrx, which has made a significant commitment to the development of oral contraceptive products including the construction of a specialized manufacturing area. This agreement is a natural extension of our strategy of market leadership, which enables us to offer our customers the most extensive portfolio of affordable, generic pharmaceuticals."

Richard Lane, Andrx Corporation's CEO added, "This Agreement reflects Andrx's strength in formulation technology and our commitment to using that capability to optimize the market opportunity for each of our formulations, whether alone or through partners, such as Teva, who can create additional value through their extensive product line."

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., headquartered in Israel, is among the top 30 pharmaceutical companies and among the largest generic pharmaceutical companies in the world. The company develops, manufactures and markets generic and innovative human pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Close to 90 per cent of Teva's sales are in North America and Europe.

Andrx Corporation develops and commercializes: bioequivalent versions of controlled-release brand name pharmaceuticals, using its proprietary drug delivery technologies; bioequivalent versions of specialty, niche and immediate-release pharmaceutical products, including oral contraceptives; and brand name or proprietary controlled-release formulations of existing immediate-release or controlled-release drugs where it believes the application of Andrx's drug delivery technologies may improve the efficacy or other characteristics of those products. Andrx also has distribution operations, which purchase primarily generic pharmaceuticals manufactured by third parties and sell them primarily to independent pharmacies, pharmacy chains which do not maintain their own central warehousing facilities, pharmacy buying groups and, to a lesser extent, physicians' offices.