Watson Sells Minority Shareholding Position in Moksha8; Expands Development and Commercialization Agreement

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. WPI today announced that it has sold its minority ownership position in Moksha8, Inc. ("Moksha8"), a leading pharmaceutical company in Latin America, for approximately $47 million. Watson acquired a minority ownership stake in Moksha8 in 2010 after investing $30 million in the company as part of Moksha8's Series 3 financing. Watson also simultaneously announced that it is expanding its ongoing sales and marketing collaboration with Moksha8 by granting a license to Moksha8 for five branded generic CNS products to be developed for the Brazil and Mexico markets in exchange for defined milestones and sales royalties. Watson will continue to retain generic marketing rights in each market for all products licensed to Moksha8. "As a larger, more diversified global company, following the planned acquisition of Actavis, we are realigning our corporate structure and ownership of assets in jurisdictions around the world," said Fred Wilkinson, President of Global Brands and Biosimilars at Watson. "Moksha8 has been a powerful partner in establishing our presence in Latin America and we look forward to continuing the relationship as we pursue additional opportunities to expand Watson's overall presence in these markets." In addition to Watson's ongoing marketing agreement with Moksha8, Watson conducts its business in Brazil through its subsidiary, Arrow Farmaceutica, which possesses local manufacturing capabilities in Rio de Janeiro and numerous marketing authorizations in process or on file in Brazil and Mexico.  Watson plans to seek approval for several of its core Urology and Women's healthcare branded products in both Brazil and Mexico and intends to commercialize the products in this region once approval is obtai