Giant drug maker Teva keeps growing through acquisitions.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Linda Loyd

PHILADELPHIA _ With generic drug makers facing increased competition and their stock prices languishing due to investor jitters, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has a strategy to extend its worldwide reach and stay ahead of rivals.

"We are always looking for acquisitions," said William A. Fletcher, president and chief executive officer of Teva North America. "We've said that North America, and the USA, remains a priority, but we do have some holes in our distribution in Europe _ Spain, Germany, Scandinavia and maybe Poland."

The Israeli-based company is the world's largest maker of lower-cost antidepressants, painkillers, heart medicines and other generic drugs. Teva, with its U.S. headquarters in North Wales, Pa., near Philadelphia, is exceeding its goal of doubling sales every four years and doubling profits even sooner.

Generic drugs account for 51 percent of all prescriptions written by U.S. doctors, up from 19 percent in 1984, according to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, a trade group. But profit margins are slim for generic drugs, which account for only 8 percent of U.S. pharmaceutical sales in dollars.

With an aging population and the new Medicare ...