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JOHANNESBURG, Oct 9 (Reuters) - South Africa genericdrugmaker Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd has teamed upwith shareholder GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) to extend itspresence in Japan, a lucrative market for low-cost medicines, itsaid on Thursday.
Politicians in the world's second-biggest pharmaceuticalmarket are lobbying for more generic drugs to go on sale tobring down the cost of healthcare for a rapidly ageingpopulation.
Shares in Aspen climbed 3.4 percent to 351.8 rand by 1337GMT, outpacing 0.8 percent rise in the benchmark JSE Top-40index.
Under the deal, Aspen, Africa's biggest generic drugmaker,would sell a 25 percent stake in a newly established Japanesebusiness to GSK, which already owns about 12 percent of Aspen.
GSK would transfer distribution rights of certain productsto the new entity, Aspen Japan. GSK would also provide AspenJapan with a pipeline of other generic medicines which it wouldbe able to sell in future.
The drugs that GSK would move into the Aspen Japan portfoliogenerated sales of about $21 million in Japan last year andinclude antibiotic Augumentin for treating bacterial infections.
Aspen Japan would cost about 14 million pounds to set upwith GSK contributing 3.5 million and the rest coming fromAspen.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end ofnext year. (1 US dollar = 0.6183 British pound) (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Ed Stoddard andDavid Holmes)
