Continuing its expansion in Europe, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd on Tuesday said it has entered into the Italian pharmaceutical market with the launch of a wholly owned subsidiary, Ranbaxy Italia SPA, in Milan.
"We will soon be introducing a number of products in Italy for the benefit of all patients," Ranbaxy (pharmaceuticals) president and executive director Malvinder Mohan Singh said in a statement.
He said the company was committed to provide generic medicines, which have an important role to play in serving the priorities of the government to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to all.
Ranbaxy is charting an organic growth route for itself and will be introducing high quality generic medicines from its extensive international product portfolio by 2006, he said.
The company's move helps it to consolidate its presence in the top five European pharmaceutical markets while recoding its presence in 21 of the 25 EU countries.
Italy, with a total size of $16.5 billion, is ranked as the fourth largest pharmaceuticals market in Europe after Germany, UK and France.
With the government encouraging generics to reduce the cost of healthcare, this segment is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, the company said.
Additional impetus will come from the expiry of some block-bluster drug patents by 2008-2009, it added.