Dr Reddy's in $350 mln deal to buy 8 U.S. drugs from Teva, Allergan

By Zeba Siddiqui

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's second-largest drugmaker Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd said it agreed to buy eight generic drugs from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Allergan Plc for $350 million in cash to bolster its U.S. business.

The deal is among Dr Reddy's largest acquisitions, and comes at a time when the company has been facing slowing growth in the United States, its largest market, due to regulatory troubles and fewer new drug approvals. Some formerly lucrative emerging markets have also taken a hit over the past year, and caused the company's March quarter profit to slump 86 percent.

The drugs Dr Reddy's is buying are being divested by Israel-based Teva, the world's largest maker of generic drugs, to win U.S. antitrust clearance for its $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan's generic drugs portfolio. The sale to Dr Reddy's puts Teva a step closer to closing the Allergan deal.

The deal consists of generic drugs awaiting U.S. approval, and some that are already on the market, including "complex generic products across diverse dosage forms", Dr Reddy's said in a statement. The branded versions of drugs under the deal had U.S. sales of about $3.5 billion in the year to April 2016, the company said, citing healthcare research firm IMS Health.

Dr Reddy's said it plans to finance the deal with cash on hand and available borrowings under existing credit facilities. The acquisition is contingent on closing of the Teva-Allergan deal and approval of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the country's antitrust regulator.

Reuters reported last month that Teva was finalising up to $2 billion in asset sale agreements to win antitrust clearance for its purchase of the Allergan products. The products being divested include those to treat illnesses ranging from cancer to respiratory disease and central nervous system disorders.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)