Actavis announced a preliminary agreement with ASKA Pharmaceutical concerning the establishment of a joint company: Actavis ASKA Co., Ltd. The plan is to enter the Japanese generic pharmaceutical market in April 2009. Read the full story

The international generic pharmaceuticals company, Actavis has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with J&M Pharma, a Korean owned and operated pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Seoul, Korea. Read the full story

Pharmaceutical giant Actavis has released a statement saying it’s business as normal for the global generic drugs company.

Actavis has said that its operations will not be impacted by the current financial turmoil in Iceland.
Actavis, which has its headquarters in Reykjavik, is a leading generic pharmaceuticals manufacturer with operations in 40 countries and 11,000 employees. Read the full story

Actavis, a generic drug manufacturer based in Iceland, has received approval from the US Food & Drug Administration to market the generic drug equivalent of Wellbutrin XL.

Actavis will begin the distribution of Bupropion Hydrochloride extended-release tablets (XL) immediately which will be available in 300mg. They are the generic equivalent of Wellbutrin and are used in the treatment of major depressive disorders.

Annual sales of brand and generic Wellbutrin in the United States total around US$580 million according to IMS Health data.

Douglas Boothe, CEO of Actavis in the US said, “Bupropion XL compliments our existing Bupropion SR offerings and expands the dosage options for our customers and patients. This approval also highlights Actavis Group’s focus and expertise in bringing complex controlled-release technologies to the marketplace.”

Actavis is a leading generic drug manufacturer which operates in 40 countries around the world, of which the US is the company’s single largest market. Actavis’ US operations are located in New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina and Florida.

Actavis has announced a number of senior appointments at the international generic drugs company.

Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir has been appointed as Deputy CEO, replacing Sigurdur Oli Olafsson who became CEO following last week‘s departure of Robert Wessman.

Doug Boothe will become the new CEO of Actavis United States whilst Valur Ragnarsson will become Executive Vice President of Third-Party Sales.

Ragnarsson will join the executive board of Actavis with immediate effect whilst Eggertsdottir and Boothe are already members.

Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir joined Actavis following the company’s merger with Delta, where she had been Deputy CEO and Managing Director of Exports and Development since 1999. She was appointed Actavis’ Chief Executive of Third-Party Sales in 2002.

Valur Ragnarsson joined Medis, Actavis’ Third-Party Sales division in 2001 and was appointed Managing Director in October 2003. He has held the posts of Marketing Manager of Lundbeck in Iceland and later as Marketing Manager of Aventis.

Doug Boothe joined Actavis through the acquisition of Alpharma in 2005. During the past four years he has held a variety of management positions within the company, the most recent of which was Executive Vice President of U.S. Commercial and Administration.

Incoming Deputy CEO Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir said, “Following the departure of Robert Wessman, it will continue to be business as usual at Actavis. We have an incredibly committed team that will continue to provide quick to market, low cost, high quality pharmaceuticals around the global marketplace.”

Actavis CEO Sigurdur Oli Olafsson said, “We have a world-class management team with global expertise. We fully intend to continue the remarkable Actavis growth story but our main focus this year will remain on internal growth.”

Actavis is one of the world’s leading generic drug companies specializing in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Based in Iceland, the company has operations in 40 countries and 11,000 employees.

For more information on Actavis and generic drugs visit www.actavis.com.

Actavis, a generic drugs manufacturer based in Iceland, has completed the latest project in its campaign to make some of Bulgaria’s most important spiritual buildings more accessible to disabled people.

The new disabled access ramp to Varna’s Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral (Uspenie Bogorodichno) now means that the region’s largest church is accessible to disabled visitors. It follows the opening of Actavis first disabled access at the Alexander Nevski Cathedral in Sofia last year.

Due to the architectural and cultural importance of the cathedral, a group of international specialists in restoration advised in the building process and matched the ramp to the overall style of the church.

Special marble in the art-deco style with dark grey and pink colours was used for the ramp facing the ancient coral pavement of the overhead road. The cost of the ramp amounts to BGN 200,000 (USD 160,000).

During the opening ceremony at Varna Cathedral, Donna Steiger, Chairman of the International Tribunal of crimes against humanity for disabled people, awarded Actavis for its “contribution to global development and special merits for cultural and social priorities for 2008”. The award was founded by the USA Senate and the UN.

For more information on Actavis, visit www.actavis.com

The CEO of Actavis generic pharmaceuticals, Robert Wessman, is scheduled to speak at the annual UBS Global Specialty and Generic Pharmaceuticals Conference held in London on Wednesday 28th May.

His presentation is entitled “The strategy and competitiveness of Actavis in a fiercely competitive environment”.

The conference, held in the UK for the first time in its twelve year history, features presentations from over 80 executives of leading specialty and generic pharmaceutical companies from around the world, as well as panel discussions focused on key sector trends and issues.

Actavis is an Iceland-based generic pharmaceuticals company which specialises in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Based in Iceland, the company has operations in 40 countries and over 11,000 employees.

For more information on Actavis and generic pharmaceuticals visit www.actavis.com

Actavis, a generic pharmaceuticals company based in Iceland, has signed a distribution agreement for a number of retail products with Australian company Generic Health.

The agreement marks an important step for Actavis in building its presence in the retail pharmaceutical market in Australia.

Generic Health is a fast-growing Australian owned and operated pharmaceutical company which sells and distributes a range of generic pharmaceutical prescriptions and over-the-counter medications from its headquarters in Melbourne.

The company, which has focused on delivering low cost, high quality products, was founded by Gavin Upiter in 2004, an experienced player in the international pharmaceutical industry.

“The partnership with Generic Health is an important milestone for our entrance into the Australian market,” said Thomas Runkel, Vice President Asia Pacific of Actavis. “We are convinced that Generic Health is the right partner for us to bring our extensive retail product portfolio of first class generics to the Australian market fast.”

Visit the Actavis website for more information on the company and generic pharmaceuticals.

Actavis, a generic pharmaceuticals company based in Iceland, last week announced that Harvard Business School had produced a case study on the company and its president and CEO, Robert Wessman.

The study, entitled “Robert Wessman and Actavis’ ‘Winning formula’” was presented in an MBA class in international entrepreneurship at Harvard and will be made available to business schools around the world.

Dr Daniel Isenberg, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, created the case study to show how a relatively small Icelandic pharmaceutical company became one of the world’s largest producers of generic pharmaceuticals, lead by 39 year-old CEO Robert Wessman.

Robert Wessman participated in extensive interviews with Dr Isenberg to develop the study, providing financial data as well as historical and personal information. He was also class guest for the case debut on 22 April where he answered numerous questions from the students who asked about a variety of topics, including the Actavis way of doing business and the CEO’s leadership style.

Read the full story

Actavis, a leading generic pharmaceuticals company, has acquired a 90% share in Zhejiang Chiral Medicine Chemicals Company in China for an undisclosed amount.

The move is part of Actavis’ strategy to gain access to low cost manufacturing of APIs or active pharmaceutical ingredients. The Zhejiang Chiral Medicine Chemicals Company specialises in research, development and production of APIs.

This latest acquisition, together with Actavis’ business in India, will increase the company’s cost competitiveness as well as being of strategic importance for Actavis in selling APIs to other pharmaceutical companies.

There are substantial overlaps between Chiral’s and Actavis’ product portfolios which will result in a significant drop in cost for a number of Actavis pharmaceuticals.

Robert Wessman, CEO and President of Actavis said, “This new facility will enable Actavis to further reduce its manufacturing costs and is an important extension of our activities in China. In addition, this further strengthens our backward integration, increasing our API manufacturing capacity.”

Founded in 2001, Zhejiang Chiral Medicine Chemicals Company currently employs around 200 employees in its API manufacturing plant, located in Hangzhou, China. Its products are currently sold to various pharmaceutical companies outside China.

Actavis is a leading generic pharmaceutical company which specialises in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Based in Iceland, the company has operations in 40 countries and 11,000 employees.