Apotex Inc. Acquires Topgen E.S.V. in Belgium from Zambon

TORONTO, Nov. 15 /CNW/ - Apotex Inc., the largest Canadian-owned generic company announced today the purchase from Zambon of the pharmaceutical company, Topgen, E.S.V. of Belgium. No acquisition price was disclosed.

Topgen, headquartered in Brussels, is the 7th largest generic pharmaceutical company in this country with approximately 30 generic registrations and has a nation-wide sales force that reaches over 4,000 doctors and 3,000 pharmacies. The Belgian generic market is less developed than many other markets in Europe, with about a 10% marketshare, but it continues to experience strong growth.

"This acquisition represents an important milestone for Apotex International as it extends the organization's footprint in Europe and will be a launching pad for many E.U. products currently in the Apotex development pipeline," stated Andrew Kay, Apotex International President.

"The sale of Topgen furthers Zambon's strategy of focusing its Belgian operations on developing its portfolio of branded products, while simultaneously strengthening our relationship with Apotex, which is already a partner of Zambon and Chiesi in Italy through Doc Generici S.r.l.," explained Roberto Consonni, CEO of Zambon's Pharma Business.

The Apotex Group of Companies has over 6,800 employees worldwide including Canada and sales of over $1 billion annually. Apotex has planned R&D expenditures of $2 billion over the next 10 years and has 600 products under development. It exports its products to over 115 countries with Apotex International having an affiliate presence in the Czech Republic, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Poland, Turkey, Italy and India, as well as the U.K.

Zambon Company S.p.A. is the holding company of the Zambon group of companies, consisting of fine chemicals specialist ZaCh System, pharmaceuticals multinational Zambon S.p.A and corporate venture specialist Z-Cube, which supports young life science companies in bringing promising new therapies to market. Zambon Company S.p.A., which was originally founded in 1906, coordinates a group of more than 2,200 employees in 16 countries on three continents and consolidated sales of approx. (euro)500m. Zambon S.p.A., Italy's leading independent pharmaceutical company, works in three main therapeutic areas - respiratory, pain relief and women's health, with a portfolio of innovative products.

For further information

Apotex Inc., Elie Betito, Director, Public & Government Affairs, (416) 749-9300, ext. 7366, Cell: (416) 558-5491, ebetito@apotex.com Zambon Group, Stefania Torelli, External Communication Dir., +390266524040, Cell. +393482486070, stefania.torelli@zambongroup

Source: Apotex Inc.

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