Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd. Acquires Merck Serono's Cardio-Metabolism Sales Force and Products in Turkey; 20 Employees and the Product Families of Concor and Glucophage Affected
It is the second agreement that DAIICHI SANKYO and Merck have reached in recent weeks. In August, the Japanese pharmaceutical company obtained the sales force of Merck Pharma GmbH that served primary-care physicians in Germany.
"We reach two goals with the latest agreement: First, we strengthen our corporate strategy in terms of our presence in Europe. Second, we are keeping our commitment to provide the subsidiary in Turkey that we established this past March with new highly qualified employees and additional products by the end of the year," said Reinhard Bauer, CEO of DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE.
The Turkish subsidiary of DAIICHI SANKYO was set up in March as part of the acquisition of the osteoporosis medication Evista for Europe. At that point, Evista, the rights to which were acquired from Eli Lilly & Company, was the only medication in DAIICHI SANKYO's product portfolio in Turkey.
Ilker özbay, Managing Director of DAIICHI SANKYO ILAÇ TICARET Ltd. Sti., added: "Thanks to these new employees and the acquisition of medications to treat hypertension and diabetes, we are approaching the critical mass needed to reach our company goals and to become one of the leading 15 pharmaceutical companies in Turkey by 2015. We also need to bolster our sales team in preparation for the market introduction of products coming out of our pipeline that we want to introduce in Turkey in the years ahead." Once approval has been granted by regulatory officials, DAIICHI SANYKO is planning to introduce three new anti-hypertensive and anti-platelet products between 2009 and 2012 to the market in Europe and Turkey.
Both companies have agreed not to release details about the agreement. For DAIICHI SANKYO, the strengthening of the Turkish organization represents another step in its European expansion strategy, which has primarily focused on Germany in the past. As part of activities there, the German biotech start-up firm U3 Pharma was acquired in a closely watched transaction and a partnership with Morphosys AG was extended. Just last year, DAIICHI SANKYO underscored its commitment to Germany by investing EUR25 million in the expansion of its most important production site in the Bavarian community of Pfaffenhofen.
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information about future developments in the sector, and the legal and business conditions of DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH. Such forward-looking statements are uncertain and are subject at all times to the risks of change, particularly to the usual risks faced by a global pharmaceutical company, including the impact of the prices for products and raw materials, medication safety, changes in exchange rates, government regulations, employee relations, taxes, political instability and terrorism as well as the results of independent demands and governmental inquiries that affect the affairs of the company. All forward-looking statements contained in this release hold true as of the date of publication. They do not represent any guarantee of future performance. Actual events and developments could differ materially from the forward-looking statements that are explicitly expressed or implied in these statements. DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH assumes no responsibility for the updating of such forward-looking statements about future developments of the sector, legal and business conditions and the company.
CONTACT
Dr. Thomas Portz Corporate Communications Phone +49(0)89-78-08-468 thomas.portz@daiichi-sankyo.eu
Source: DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH