Pfizer, Aurobindo in Deal to Sell Generic Drugs

Pfizer Inc. will begin selling dozens more generic drugs through new deals with an Indian generic company, becoming the latest brand-name drugmaker looking to expand in a generics market growing because of the push to cut medical costs and the recession.

Pfizer's Greenstone subsidiary already sells more than 300 Pfizer medicines that have lost patent protection but still brought in a combined $10 billion last year. Those include former blockbusters Zoloft for depression, Norvasc for high blood pressure, Zithromax for bacterial infections and Medrol for inflammatory and immune conditions such as asthma, arthritis and lupus.

Now the established products unit at New York-based Pfizer, created as part of its reorganization last fall into more-focused business units, announced Tuesday that it has reached agreements with Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. to produce and sell competitors' drugs that have lost patent protection in the U.S. and Europe.

The deal includes 39 pills that will be sold in the U.S., 20 of which will also be sold across Europe, and 12 injectable antibiotic medicines. Pfizer will handle the marketing after licensing each product from Aurobindo, which will handle all the steps to get approval to make generic versions, as well as manufacture them.

In this country, the recession is boosting sales of generic drugs, which cost 30 percent to 80 percent less than the original brand-name ones. The number of prescriptions for generic drugs jumped 8 percent last year, and they now account for 68 percent of all prescriptions filled, according to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

Shares of Pfizer initially rose nearly 3 percent Tuesday morning before falling back with the rest of the market, to a midday level of $11.79, up 13 cents.

Pfizer isn't disclosing the names of the competitors' drugs it will target, but said they are for conditions including heart disease and brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

"We're targeting by 2013 to generate more than $1 billion in incremental sales for the company through portfolio expansion," David Simmons, president and general manager of the established products unit, told the The Associated Press in an interview.