Jordan's Hikma Pharmaceuticals 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 US-based Boehringer unit include Mallinckrodt and Perrigo Company, 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.

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 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 per cent was from prescription medicines.-Reuters