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06/11/10--05:31: Deal of the day: GSK in $253m boost for Argentina (chan 1567035)

By Thomas Williams of mergermarket GlaxoSmithKline’s US$253m cash acquisition of Laboratorios Phoenix, Argentina’s pharmaceutical business, is modest by the industry’s high standards but it is a not an insignificant show of confidence in the troubled South American country’s economy. Announcing …

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07/07/10--05:17: Deal of the day: Aspen looks to snap up unloved Sigma (chan 1567035)

By Hanna Gezelius and Mintoi Chessa-Florea of mergermarket A takeover offer by South Africa-based Aspen Pharmacare Holdings for Australian Sigma Pharmaceuticals for A$0.55 per share, which amounts to A$647m, (€435m) highlights two main recurrent themes that are being weaved in …

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07/30/10--02:39: Shareholders (and markets) scupper Charles River’s China deal (chan 1567035)

It would have been the biggest ever western takeover of a mainland Chinese company. But Charles River’s $1.6bn deal for WuXi PharmaTech is off. The shareholders, and the market, will almost certainly breathe a sigh of relief. The deal, which would …

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08/12/10--06:25: Ranbaxy: is India’s pharma trailblazer running out of steam? (chan 1567035)

Some top executives enjoy enormous longevity at the helm of Indian companies. That can’t be said these days of those at Ranbaxy Laboratories, a once family-owned pharmaceutical company that was bought by Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo two years ago. Since the …

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08/27/10--00:13: India: from generics-maker to drug-developer? (chan 1567035)

By Girija Shivakumar and Amy Kazmin in New Delhi Indian pharmaceutical companies are often touting their potential for innovative drug discovery. Piramal, the Mumbai-based drug company which sold its generics drug business to Abbott for $3.7bn, recently said it expects …

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09/16/10--09:45: Pharma companies reveal their EM secrets (chan 1567035)

Western pharmaceutical companies have been revealing more about their activities in emerging markets – and now they’re starting to see the benefits of that transparency. One London broker decided to upgrade GlaxoSmithKline this week following the release of more details about its sales in emerging economies, a move that highlighted the importance analysts are attaching …

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10/20/10--10:30: Deal of the day: India-US medical link (chan 1567035)

The Indian advance into the global pharmaceutical and medical equipment market goes on. Following some big deals, here is a modest $54.6m transaction which brings together Opto Circuits, a Bangalore-based pharmaceutical technology company, and Cardiac Science, a Washington state cardiac devices maker. Opto announced on Tuesday that it’s buying Cardiac Sciences to boost its presence …

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11/04/10--10:30: Deal of the day: Hungarian pharma company goes west (chan 1567035)

By Mintoi Chessa-Florea of mergermarket Women’s health is one of those speciality sectors that offers stable growth for pharmaceutical companies. It is therefore unsurprising that Hungary’s Gedeon Richter should want to make leaps into the sector. Today’s €236.5m acquisition of Grünenthal’s oral contraceptive (OC) portfolio will rank the Hungarian company – which has plans to …

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11/15/10--07:33: Brazilian drugmaker snubs Portugal (chan 1567035)

Brazil’s fast economic growth is driving two parallel trends in the pharmaceutical industry. First, western companies – whose traditional markets are stagnating – are returning to the country. And second, their Brazilian counterparts, buoyed by the wave of domestic growth, are looking for foreign acquisitions. Yet, amid all this, there’s further humiliation for Portugal, Brazil’s …

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12/03/10--05:45: West’s drugmakers look for China buys (chan 1567035)

By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai and Andrew Jack in London From fashion to pharmaceuticals, the principle is the same: if a global company does not succeed in China these days, it will increasingly struggle to succeed at all. So predictably, the past few weeks have seen a bunch of mergers and acquisitions in the Chinese …

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12/13/10--00:51: Deal of the day: India’s $724m Moov (chan 1567035)

Global healthcare companies show no sign of losing interest in India. On Monday Reckitt Benckiser, the UK cleaning products group, announced it had acquired India’s Paras Pharmaceuticals for Rs32.6bn ($724m), in a move that will significantly increase RB’s emerging markets presence. In buying the maker of a range of brands, including a painkilling ointment called …

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04/08/11--05:08: Deal of the day: Taisho acquires HOE for US$122m (chan 1567035)

By Mai Mizuta and Natasha Khan of mergermarket Taisho Pharmaceutical has become the latest in a string of Japanese pharma companies to acquire an emerging market counterpart, as companies search for better prospects as their consumer bases shrink at home. On Thursday Taisho, the prescription and over-the-counter drug maker, announced the acquisition of Malaysia-based pharmaceutical …

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05/16/11--01:30: Shanghai Pharma prices HK listing (chan 1567035)

While Chinese internet companies have been rushing to list in New York, and Chinese banks are set to raise billions with issues on the mainland this year, there’s one sector that looks rather underrepresented in the equity issuance whirlwind – healthcare. Shanghai Pharma – which announced the pricing of its Hong Kong IPO on Monday …

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05/17/11--09:23: Indian pharma sector: coming of age? (chan 1567035)

Indian pharmaceutical companies have gained an unflattering reputation of being generic drug makers with little to show in the way of new product development and innovation. But a few companies in the sector are beginning to break the mould. On Monday Glenmark, the Mumbai-listed pharmaceutical firm, signed a licensing agreement with Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical group, for …

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10/04/11--01:30: Moroccan tonic for Hikma (chan 1567035)

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, the fast-growing Jordan-based drugs group hard hit by the Arab Spring, is trying to capitalise on the opportunities created by the political turmoil. Late on Monday it announced plans to buy a $111.2m controlling stake in Morocco’s Societe de Promotion Pharmaceutique du Maghreb (Promopharm) to secure access to one of the Arab world’s …

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11/30/11--06:44: Ranbaxy’s high blood pressure day (chan 1567035)

Wednesday should have been a great day for India’s largest pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories. After all, it is one of two companies that, come Thursday, will be allowed to sell a generic version of Lipitor, Pfizer’s blockbuster anti-cholesterol drug. Instead, shares in Ranbaxy, which had global sales of nearly $1.9bn last year, fell 3.88 per …

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11/30/11--23:30: Ranbaxy’s relief after FDA approval (chan 1567035)

Shares of India’s biggest pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories, opened up 10.4 per cent on Thursday, following news that it had received FDA-approval to market its generic version of Pfizer’s anti-cholesterol drug, Lipitor. The approvals on Wednesday came at the last moment, just one day before Ranbaxy would be legally allowed to sell the drug, which …

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12/05/11--08:42: Pharma still bullish on EMs (chan 1567035)

By Mark Wembridge With the slowdown in the developed world hitting healthcare spending,  pharmaceuticals companies are redoubling their efforts in emerging markets. Some of the world’s top pharma executives on Monday reiterated their faith in EMs, their blossoming talent base and their expanding healthcare markets. Speaking at the Financial Times Global Pharmaceutical and Biotech conference …

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12/06/11--13:43: Merck bets big on China (chan 1567035)

For all the news of growth slowdowns, drug companies still love EMs. Merck, the US pharmaceutical giant, announced on Tuesday it is building a $1.5bn R&D facility in Beijing. The move follows comments on Monday from Miles White, Abbott chief executive, that companies need to “ride the wave of [EM] growth“. Speaking at the Financial Times …

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02/10/12--08:57: Guest post: Building halal brands (chan 1567035)

By Shelina Janmohamed of Ogilvy Noor The race is on to establish powerful international ‘halal brands’. The stakes are high: by some estimates, the global market for halal products is worth $500bn a year. But it’s a market strewn with …

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