Teva to foray into Indian OTC market in JV with P&G

Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TPI) is planning to enter India through a joint venture (JV) with US-based Proctor & Gamble (P&G) and set up its first manufacturing facility at Sanand in Gujarat.

Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration commissioner H G Koshia revealed that the firms will set up an over-the-counter (OTC) drug manufacturing facility jointly whose initial investment would be Rs2.5bn ($45.02m). .

"The total proposed investment in Gujarat by the JV is around Rs 500 crore. They would initially hire 500 people, which could go up to 1,000," said Koshia.

A formal announcement is likely to be made during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit-2013, scheduled to be held in January 2013, after signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state of Gujarat.

The officials said the two firms have already bought 15 acres of land for the project, which is proposed to have two separate lines, one for manufacturing ayurvedic formulations and another for allopathic medicines.

According to the official, a joint team of P&G Teva recently visited Gujarat and had shown interest in setting up a manufacturing facility in the state.

Koshia said a four-member committee led by Teva corporate quality vice-president Karin Baer met the government in order to set up a facility to manufacture OTC products such as cough syrups, inhalers, among others.

The committee also included Teva assistant vice-president Rajiv Palliwal, senior director OTC operations Haresh Gill and P&G senior scientist Seema Sundereshan, he said.

Teva Pharmaceutical is global generic medicinal products company, which operates in 60 countries with distribution network in around 100 countries and a portfolio of 1,480 products.