Lots of big drug makers have been pushing into China lately. Eli Lilly’s adding jobs there even as it makes cuts in the U.S.; Novartis is spending $1 billion to expand an R&D facility in Shanghai; and Pfizer has made a couple deals to study and sell drugs in China.
But at least one drug maker is moving in the other direction: Ranbaxy, the big Indian generics shop, said it’s getting out of a joint venture with a state-owned company to manufacture drugs in China. The partnership, established 16 years ago, was one of the first Sino-Indian joint ventures, the Financial Times notes.
Ranbaxy will still sell drugs in China, but the company is consolidating manufacturing as part of a series of cost-cutting measures. The company has also cut staff in some markets, Dow Jones Newswires says.
Last year, the Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo bought a controlling share in Ranbaxy, shortly before Ranbaxy ran into trouble with the FDA. Daiichi Sankyo took a write-down of nearly $4 billion on the deal.
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