Glenmark to sell US firms' products in US

In an unusual development, an Indian company will start selling products of two US companies in their home market.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals today announced its alliance with two US-based companies "" Interpharm and Konec "" for marketing their generic products Naproxen and Nitroglycerin in the US with immediate effect.

Glenmark expects to further add 4-5 products in its portfolio through a mix of similar alliances, product buyouts and launch of its own products.

"This is our US entry strategy. The idea is to accelerate our strategically positioned commercial sales front in the US market. We expect the US business to contribute 25 per cent to our total turnover in three years," Glenn Saldanha, managing director and CEO of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, said.

The company is also assessing other development and marketing alliances on a global basis with several other companies.

As per the agreement, the two American companies will continue to manufacture the product. The deal will be executed through Glenmark's US subsidiary "" Glenmark Inc "" which expects to generate sales worth $6-8 million from the two products in the first year, while $1 million sales during the first quarter of the launch.

The market for the pain medication drug Naproxen and cardiovascular drug Nitrogycerin in the US is around $80 million and $17 million, respectively.

While Nitroglycerin will be marketed under the Glenmark label, Naproxen will be marketed under a joint label with Interpharm Inc.

"The in-licensing of these products complement Glenmark's organic product pipeline. Post addition of another 4-5 products under our own label by 2006, we would we are expecting business in excess of $ 10 million," said Terry Coughlin, president of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc.