German drugmaker Stada is intent on expanding its portfolio outside its home country. Last week, the company said it is negotiating to buy a portfolio of drugs from Gruenenthal, and now Stada has announced it's in talks to buy Spirig Pharma's generics business in Switzerland.
The Gruenenthal portfolio is worth about $509 million, Dow Jones reports, and would beef up Stada's branded business in fast-growing markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as well as Central Europe. Grunenthal would continue to manufacture the meds, and Stada would market them in those regions. The 14 brands to change hands include pain drugs Tramadol and Zaldiar. While no production facilities come with the deal, Grunenthal's 240 employees in those regions would; about 70 percent of them are sales reps, InPharm reports.
Meanwhile, the Spirig buy would encompass 56 prescription drugs and 15 non-prescription remedies, with estimated annual sales of $63.7 million. In March, Stada CEO Hartmut Retzlaff said he was looking at three acquisitions to shift its geographic focus eastward to reduce dependence on German sales. Domestically, the company faces price cuts recently pushed through by the German government.
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