Gedeon Richter has hit the acquisition trail for the second time in a month and is buying the oral contraceptives business of Germany's Grunenthal.
The Hungarian drugmaker is shelling out 236.5 million euros in cash for a portfolio headed up by Belara (chlormadinone/ethinyl estradiol), plus six other contraceptives. Grunenthal will retain sales and marketing rights for the portfolio in Latin America but outside that territory, sales of the drugs last year reached 72 million euros, 70% of which came from Germany, and 20% from Spain and Italy.
Last month, Richter acquired privately-held Swiss biopharmaceutical group PregLem Holding in a deal valued at around 337 million euros, expanding its female healthcare franchise. The latter firm has five products in clinical and preclinical development, headed by Esmya (ulipristal), which completed Phase III trials in June for the treatment of uterine myoma, a common benign tumour in women of reproductive age.
Richter managing director Erik Bogsch said that following the PregLem acquisition, "this transaction will be a further important step towards the execution of our corporate strategy in Western Europe". He added that Grunenthal's products "will boost our gynaecological sales as well as expand our female healthcare portfolio, providing an opportunity to further strengthen this specialty business segment in most of our key regions".
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