Cipla, leading drug maker today announced that Medpro Pharmaceutica, a subsidiary of the Cipla Medpro has entered into collaboration with Teva Pharmaceuticals, an affiliate of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. The collaboration is restricted to the territory of South Africa.

The collaboration is a sales and distribution arrangement whereby Cipla Medpro will exclusively market Teva's broad pharmaceutical product portfolio in South Africa.

''This collaboration is highly complementary and aligns strongly with our philosophy of providing South Africans with access to a broader range of affordable medicines,'' says Paul Miller, chief executive officer of Cipla Medpro.

The collaboration with Teva in South Africa will focus on the following therapeutic areas: oncology, central nervous system, women's health, cardiovascular, ophthalmology and other specialty products.

Shares of the company gained Rs 14.65, or 2.5%, to trade at Rs 599.95. The total volume of shares traded was 80,909 at the BSE (9.51 a.m., Thursday).