Generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Monday it will pay $150 million to buy out the stake of partner Kowa Company Ltd. in their three-year-old Japanese joint venture.

 

Teva, which is based in Israel, said the joint venture will become a wholly owned member of the Teva Group. The venture generated about $200 million in sales last year.

 

In July, Teva also finished a deal to buy Taiyo Pharmaceutical Industry Co. Ltd. for $934 million. Taiyo had $530 million in revenue in 2010, making it the country’s third-largest generic drug company.

 

“Full ownership of all our activities including Taiyo will allow us to better grow our business in Japan,” said Teva CEO Shlomo Yanai in a statement from the company.

 

When it announced the Taiyo deal in May, Teva said the Japanese drug market is worth $96 billion. Teva said the government is trying to increase the use of low-cost generic drugs, which are less common in Japan than they are in the U.S.

 

Teva, which has historically generated most of its sales from North America and Western Europe, expects its operations in Japan to have annual sales of more than $800 million.