Cipla eyes Latin America, Eastern Europe in growth push

Plans to bolster US presence, targets 20% sales from region compared to 8% now

Cipla Ltd, India's fourth-largest drugmaker by sales, is planning to enter Latin America and Eastern Europe to tap into growing demand for generic drugs in emerging markets, Chief Executive Subhanu Saxena said.

More than a decade after it made headlines globally for offering to make AIDS drugs for under $1 a day, Cipla gets nearly half of its sales from India, unlike most of its domestic rivals for whom the US market makes up the bulk of revenues.

While Cipla is actively looking to expand into new emerging markets, it is also aiming to bolster its US presence so that a fifth of its sales could come from that market by 2020 compared to 8% now, Saxena told Reuters in an interview at the company's headquarters in Mumbai.

The US growth plan could include acquisitions, he said.