India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is in talks to buy Sweden's Meda AB for between $5 billion and $6 billion to boost its generics business in developed markets, two sources with direct knowledge of the process said.

Meda makes speciality products, over-the-counter drugs and branded generics - the same areas of focus as Sun. The Swedish company had sales of about 13 billion crowns ($2 billion) in 2012 and has a stock market value of roughly $4 billion.

Mumbai-based Sun is India's most valuable drugmaker, with a market capitalisation of some $20 billion, and has made several acquisitions in recent years.

But a deal for Meda would be the largest yet for a company which had cash of Rs40.6 billion ($722 million) at the end of March.

If it goes through, the transaction would be the latest in a string of multibillion-dollar deals involving generic and mid-sized drug companies.

Such deals include the planned $5bn purchase of Warner Chilcott by Actavis and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International's $8.7bn acquisition of Bausch & Lomb.

Buying Meda would give Sun access to Dymista, an allergy medicine that received US approval last year and is viewed by analysts as having good potential. The inhaler product is manufactured and supplied to Meda by Cipla, an Indian rival of Sun.-Reuters