Ranbaxy Acquires GSK's Mundogen Generic Drug Business

In a move to strengthen its position in Western generic drug markets,Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (Gurgaon, Haryana, India, www.ranbaxy.com)acquired the Mundogen generic drug business of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK,London, England, www.gsk.com)in Spain, through Ranbaxy's Spanish subsidiary, Laboratorios RanbaxyS.L.

"The Mundogen generic business acquisition from GSK is in line with ourM&A [mergers and acquisitions] strategy to focus on the EU marketswhere we continue to see growth opportunities," said Malvinder MohanSingh, CEO of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.

The Mundogen acquisition is Ranbaxy's fourth acquisition in 2006.Earlier this year, it acquired a 97% stake in the Romanian genericscompany Terapia for $324 million and made bolt-on acquisitions of theBelgium generics company Ethimed NV and the unbranded generics businessof Allen SpA, a division of GSK in Italy.

As it builds its position in Europe, Ranbaxy also seeks to strengthenits position in the United States. Ranbaxy increased its overall marketshare in the US generic drug market to 15.2% in the second quarter2006, up from 12.2% year-over-year, according to the company's secondquarter 2006 financial results. The company reports it has 56abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) pending with the US Food andDrug Administration, and its cumulative ANDA approvals total 113.