RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC — Quintiles Transnational is teaming up with two other firms as part of a $112 million joint venture to commercialize pharmaceutical products in the Asia pacific Market.

Each of the three partners is paying an equal amount to fund the venture and own one third of the new company.

Also as part of the deal, some 800 employees of Innovex, a subsidiary of Quintiles, will be transferred to the new effort.

Joining Quintiles are Interpharma Asia Pacific, the parent of drug distributor Zuellig Pharma, and Temasek Holdings Limited, the investment arm of the Singapore government.

The deal was originally announced last June. Quintiles said on Tuesday that it had signed the agreement.

"Through this joint venture, we can provide pharma and biotech customers with innovative, flexible solutions to increase sales in Asia Pacific and manage their product portfolios," said Dennis Gillings, chief executive officer and chairman of Quintiles, in a statement. "Economic growth in Asia Pacific is driving greater demand for medicines. We believe this joint venture can significantly help companies meet the needs of this rapidly expanding market."

Innovex offers a variety of sales and marketing solutions to customers.

The Innovex business operating in Australia, South Korea and India will be transferred to the joint venture.

Quintiles will also be the exclusive provider of clinical development services as needed by the new company.

PharmaLink, the Asia Pacific pharmaceutical marketing services division of Interpharma, will also become part of the venture.