China's Sinopharm mulls deal for Nanjing Pharma

Apparently, Western pharma companies aren't the only ones scouting China for potential deals. Chinese companies are on the hunt, too. Sinopharm, the country's largest drug distributor and purveyor of such products as the H1N1 pandemic flu vaccine, is eyeing rival Nanjing Pharmaceutical Group, local media reports.

Sinopharm reportedly has been negotiating to buy out the share of the company owned by Nanjing's municipal government. The company had entered into a tentative deal to acquire that interest, 21st Century News Group said (as Reuters reports).

Nanjing Pharmaceutical Group is a parent company comprising drugmaker and distributor Nanjing Pharmaceutical Co. and pharma manufacturer and distributor Jinling Pharmaceutical Co. The latter owns 10 pharma manufacturing businesses and operates a distribution network with more than 1,000 outlets, Reuters notes.

Sinopharm is interested in Nanjing because of its strong presence in Eastern China; buying the company would give Sinopharm better penetration into that region. Investors apparently liked the deal news; Sinopharm's shares rose to an all-time high.

- read the Reuters piece

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