Apotex Inc., the largest Canadian generic drug company, is taking over a generic drug maker in Belgium for an undisclosed price.
Privately held Apotex said Thursday that Topgen ESV, being acquired from Zambon Group SpA of Italy, "represents an important milestone for Apotex International as it extends the organization's footprint in Europe and will be a launching pad for many EU products currently in the Apotex development pipeline."
Topgen, headquartered in Brussels, has about 30 generic registrations and a sales force covering Belgium.
Apotex, which has 6,800 employees and worldwide sales of more than $1-billion, said the Belgian generic sector is relatively undeveloped, with about 10 per cent of the overall drug market, "but it continues to experience strong growth."
Zambon said the divestment of Topgen advances its strategy of focusing on branded products, "while simultaneously strengthening our relationship with Apotex, which is already a partner of Zambon and Chiesi [Farmaceutici SpA]in Italy."