Canada's Pharmascience sets up JV with Korea Kolmar; buys Rivex

Privately-held Canadian drugmaker Pharmascience and Korea Kolmar Holdings, based in Seoul, South Korea, have entered into an agreement to create a new company, Pharmascience Korea, which expects to launch Canadian-made bio-equivalent medicines in the country by 2014.

The two companies will contribute equal capital amounts into Pharmascience Korea, which will seek approval of the Korea Food and Drug Administration to market a variety of Pharmascience bio-equivalent medicines in Korea by mid-2014. The initial product portfolio will focus on central nervous system medications to treat a variety of psychiatric disorders.

The products will be manufactured by Pharmascience at its state-of-the-art facility in Montreal, which recently underwent a significant expansion and upgrade involving an investment of C$40 million ($40.2 million).