Indian Generics Manufacturer Looks to Brazil for Expansion

The Brazilian generics market is facing an increasing threat from an unlikely source -- India. Increasingly, Indian drug manufacturers have targeted not only Brazil, but the whole of the Latin American market, where the generally low-income population has proved to be receptive to low-cost generic output. Indian manufacturer Ranbaxy has led the way, reporting a solid performance on the Brazilian market in its quarterly financials and pledging to build a new manufacturing unit in Rio de Janeiro state. The company also commented that the Brazilian generics market was growing faster than its domestic counterpart, illustrating the opportunity that the country and indeed, the continent, present. Indeed, reflecting the growing importance of Latin America to the company, Brazil is now classed as one of Ranbaxy's key markets, with it expected to contribute around 20% of total sales by 2007 in combination with Russia, India and China.

Aside from Ranbaxy's activity, a recent move by the Brazilian pharmaceutical regulatory body Anvisa to inspect a new Chennai, India-based contract research organisation, Quest Life Sciences, is another indicator of the increase in cross-market activity between India and South America. A manufacturing unit operated by Indian generics producer Zydus Cadila has also received approval from Anvisa inspectors.