ICN Buys 80% of Polish Drug Firm

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it has purchased an 80% interest in a Polish drug company for $33.7 million as part of its strategy to expand in Eastern Europe.

ICN bought the stake in Polfa Rzeszow SA from the Polish government. The transaction was the first involving a state-owned pharmaceutical company in that country, said Jim Byers, an ICN spokesman.

The agreement stipulates that ICN will invest an additional $20 million within two years, gaining as much as a 90% stake in the company.

ICN already owns drug companies in former East Bloc countries, including Hungary, the former Yugoslavia and Russia. These accounted for $182 million in sales in the region for the first six months of the year.

Polfa Rzeszow, based in southern Poland, makes vitamins, blood pressure drugs and tranquilizers, and employs 636 people. Sales grew to $40 million last year from $27 million in 1993.