UPDATE: Sanofi-Aventis Eyes Japan Generic Drug Market; In Talks On Tie-Up
27 Mai 2010 - 12:59PM
Dow Jones News
Sanofi-Aventis S.A. (SAN.FR) said Thursday it is in talks with a
potential partner to enter the Japanese generic drug market, as it
seeks to expand its growth potential and lower its dependence on
blockbuster products.
"We are interested in the Japanese generic market, we are in
discussions with a partner and those discussions are successful,"
the French drug maker's Chief Executive Christopher Viehbacher said
in a news conference, without naming the potential partner.
The move is the latest evidence of growing interest among
overseas drug makers in the generic drug business in Japan, as the
government seeks to nearly double the use of generic products in
the world's second largest pharmaceutical market to 30% by
2013.
Foreign companies already active in Japan's generic drugs market
include Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
(TEVA.TV), and the addition of Sanofi-Aventis will increase the
competitive pressure on smaller domestic suppliers. Japanese drug
maker Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. (4568.TO), the parent company of
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (500359.BY), is another recent
newcomer.
Generic drugs had a 17.6% share of Japan's $80 billion-a-year
drug market in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, according to
the latest figures from the Japan Generic Medicines
Association.
Patrick Chocat, the president of the French company's Japanese
unit Sanofi-Aventis K.K., said the world's sixth largest
pharmaceutical group is seeking a tie-up with "a partner with good
access to the local generic market," indicating it would likely be
a leading Japanese supplier without an existing alliance.
The Nikkei reported Thursday that Sanofi-Aventis plans to set up
a joint venture with Japan's largest generic drug maker, Nichi-iko
Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (4541.OK).
Nichi-iko declined to comment on whether it is in talks for a
tie-up with Sanofi-Aventis or other companies.
Viehbacher said his company is also interested in small- and
medium-sized acquisitions in other business areas, but added the
company would be selective in seeking opportunities to expand.
"I don't see us as being a generics company and I don't see us
as wanting to compete everywhere with major generic players," he
said.
In the fast-growing Indian pharmaceutical market, where
Sanofi-Aventis has been doing business since 1956, the company is
not looking for more acquisitions in the near future, Viehbacher
said.
The company is also speaking to competition authorities in
markets where it operates for possible anti-trust divestitures of
its animal health business and it may make a divestment decision,
if needed, in the second half of this year, Viehbacher said.
Sanofi-Aventis bought Merck & Co. Inc.'s (MRK) interest in
their animal health product joint venture last year.
"There is significant interest" in Sanofi's animal health
assets, he said, but stopped short of naming possible bidders.
-By Kazuhiro Shimamura, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2790;
kazuhiro.shimamura@dowjones.com