Boehringer's Roxane Labs draws bid from Hikma, Mallinckrodt- Bloomberg

June 29 (Reuters) - Jordan's Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc (LSE: HIK.L - news) has emerged as a bidder for German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim's generics unit Roxane Labs, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Other bidders for the U.S.-based Boehringer unit include Mallinckrodt Plc and Perrigo Co, and a decision could be made within weeks for a sale that could fetch as much as 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion), Bloomberg reported. (http://bloom.bg/1NqCMdX)

However, there is a possibility that the company may choose to retain the asset, Bloomberg reported.

A spokesman for Perrigo declined to comment. Representatives at Hikma, Boehringer and Mallinckrodt (Berlin: MCD.BE - news) were immediately not available for comment.

In January, Reuters reported that Boehringer, Germany's second largest drug maker, was considering a sale of Roxane to put a stronger focus on the development and sale of new pharmaceuticals.

A company spokeswoman at the time said that Boehringer was not a specialist in generics and was therefore considering whether it made more sense for a generics specialist to own Roxane Labs.

Roxane's activities include the development and marketing of Boehringer's generic drugs. It also has a production site making both generic drugs and some of Boehringer's patent-protected drugs.

Boehringer had sales of 13.3 billion euros in 2014, of which 76 percent was from prescription medicines. ($1 = 0.8902 euros) (Reporting by Shivam Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)