APOTEK TO BUILD C$50M PHARMA UNIT

Canadian company Apotex says it will build a pharmaceutical complex which will the "the largest of its kind in Canada." The unit, which will involve an investment of some C$50 million ($44.0 million), will be called Apotex Biotechnology Inc, and will carry out research, development and manufacturing of fine chemicals for use in pharmaceutical markets around the world.

A pilot plant, costing C$20 million, will be the first stage of the project, for which Apotex, Canada's largest domestically-owned drugmaker, will get loans of about C$6.7 million from the Western Economic Diversification Fund and C$2 million from the government of Manitoba, where the plant will be located. Apotex president Bernard Sherman says this is the first step to give Canadian drugmakers a chance to diversify and invest their profits into research and innovative production.

GATT Will Hit Canada's Generic Drugmakers Meantime, the country's generic drugmakers are expected to be casualties of the Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, according to a Wall Street Journal report.