Sanofi accelerates the sale of 2 billion European generics
According to sources cited by Reuters, Sanofi is seeking advisors for the sale of its European generics business which could be worth more than €2 billion. The French pharmaceutical giant had anticipated its intention to sell the business as early as last October and the choice of banks is expected by the end of the month. Sanofi closed Wednesday's session in Paris by 0.43%
Related news: Sanofi gears up for European generic drugs unit sale – sources
Sanofi hires advisors for European generic drugs unit sale: sources
Merck KGaA towards the sale of the biosimilars BU
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And the rumors are true: Merck KGaA wants to sell the biosimilars business unit. The German pharmaceutical company announced in its 2016 annual report that it is at an advanced stage of the negotiations. In October, the pharmaceutical company reportedly requested the help of JPMorgan Chase & Co. to search for potential buyers. According to some sources, Merck could obtain a figure of around one billion dollars. Merck KGaA has been working with Indian generics company Dr. Reddy's to develop biosimilars since 2012, but the partnership has not brought any products to market so far. The pipeline includes a copy of Abbvie's Humira currently in phase 3.
The market
In this sector Merck KGaA is followers in the US market: Novartis, Sandoz and Pfizer already have biosimilars on the market and Amgen's copy of Humira is awaiting launch after the FDA approval obtained in September. As the market begins to fill up, companies still catching up may need to cut prices in order to get a piece of the pie. Merck KGaA is not the only pharmaceutical company to try to hedge against biosimilars. Late last month Brent Saunders, chief executive officer of Allergan, said his company will likely do the same thing after it finishes developing the four oncology drug copies in partnership with Amgen. The biosimilars BU may not be the only one Merck will say goodbye to in the near future. “Every division of the company is under continuous review,” said CEO Stefan Oschmann.
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