Mumbai: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has signed agreements with Iceland-based Actavis to acquire seven pharmaceutical brands in Poland for an undisclosed amount.

Glenmark's European  organisation acquired these seven pharmaceutical brands through the Indian firm's Czech subsidiary Medicamenta, in which Glenmark had acquired an over 90-per cent stake in March 2008 (See: Glenmark acquires Czech firm Medicamanta) through its Swiss subsidiary Glenmark Holdings SA, in order to gain a foothold in the fast growing and profitable pharmaceutical markets in the East European region.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Sp. z o., established in June 2008,

The product portfolio included anti-depressant Cital and epilepsy drug Lamotrix, which together make up about 50 per cent of sales of the seven brands acquired. The acquisition of the brands from Actavis and Biovena will provide Glenmark its first access to the growing Polish market, the largest pharmaceutical market in Central and East Europe.

Though Glenmark did not disclose financial details of the deal, it said that it expected the brands to boost its revenue by $15 million in the fiscal year ending March 2009.

The acquisition would provide Glenmark access to the growing pharmaceutical market in Central and East Europe, the company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

''The polish market (Central and East Europe) has good potential for branded generic products and Glenmark will now have the necessary front end and the product range to access and develop in this exciting market," Glenn Saldanha, the company's managing director and CEO, said.

Guy Clark, president of Glenmark Europe added ''After the acquisition of  Medicamenta in 2007, which gave access to the Czech and Slovakia markets, and the establishment earlier this year of a company in Romania, this is another major development for Glenmark in the European region. The acquisition of this productportfolio fits well with Glenmark's overall strategy for increasing revenue and accelerating growth in a key strategic market like Poland.''

Glenmark's estimated sales of the acquired product portfolio for FY09 is $15 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Medicamenta will receive all marketing authorisations and trademark rights in Poland for the products, and will sell the products directly to the Polish market through its appointed distributors, and will market the products through Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Sp. z o.o, established in June 2008

The largest products in the new portfolio are Cital, the leading brand of [the antidepressant] citalopram in Poland, and Lamotrix (lamotrigine), a leading treatment for the management of epilepsy. Together these products comprise about 50 per cent of the total sales of Glenmark's newly-acquired portfolio.

Poland is the largest market in the CEE region, and the largest of the many countries which have recently joined the European Union. Poland has a population of around 38 million people – a similar size to Spain, which is regarded as one of the ''Top 5'' EU countries. The pharmaceutical market in Poland in 2007 was about €4.7bn ($7 billionn) in IMS recorded sales and showed growth of about 8% over the previous year.

Poland's pharmaceutical market in 2007 grew to about $7 billion in 2007, posting a growth of about eight per cent over the previous year.