J&nbsp;J CEO leaves door open for getting into generics
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> has\nnot ruled out going into generic drugs, says its chief\nexecutive, noting the large opportunities from many medicines\ngoing off patent.\nThe possibility that large pharmaceutical companies might\nseek to diversify by acquiring generic drugmakers came into\nfocus earlier this month when Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd\n<4568.T> bid $4.6 billion for control of India's Ranbaxy\nLaboratories Ltd <RANB.BO>.\nJohnson & Johnson, which already has a diversified\nhealthcare model, has been one of the drug makers mentioned as\na potential buyer of generic companies.\nAsked in a recent interview with The Wharton School of the\nUniversity of Pennsylvania about his view on the\nDaiichi-Ranbaxy deal, Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon said\nthat, so far, his company has committed itself to researching\nnew medicines.\n"But that is not to say that we wouldn't go into generics\nor other companies," Weldon said in the interview, a video and\ntranscript of which were posted on Wharton's website. "I think\nthat there is a big market emerging, big opportunities in the\nfuture."\n"Each company has its own business model that it thinks is\nthe best," Weldon added. "Some may be both research-based and a\ngeneric company; others just research-based and others just\ngeneric-based."\nGovernments and healthcare payors have looked to low-cost\ngenerics as a way to cut their healthcare spending, with a\nparticular focus on a wave of blockbuster medicines expected to\nlose patent protection in the next few years.\n"There is a big opportunity in the generic field because of\nlarge products going off patent," Weldon said.\n(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; editing by Gunna Dickson)\n((lewis.krauskopf@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6082;Reuters\nMessaging:Lewis.Krauskopf.reuters.com@reuters.net;))\nKeywords: JOHNSON&JOHNSON/GENERICS