beyondbrics

By Mintoi Chessa-Florea of mergermarket

Women’s health is one of those speciality sectors that offers stable growth for pharmaceutical companies. It is therefore unsurprising that Hungary’s Gedeon Richter should want to make leaps into the sector. Today’s €236.5m acquisition of Grünenthal’s oral contraceptive (OC) portfolio will rank the Hungarian company – which has plans to build up a sales network in western Europe – as a leading player in Europe. Richter’s chief executive officer Erik Bogsch told a press conference in Budepest: “We’ve realized that Richter can’t be competitive unless we strengthen our presence in western Europe.”

The key product in Grünenthal’s OC portfolio is contraceptive pill Belara, which is available in over 30 countries worldwide. Last year reported global revenues from oral contraceptives outside of Latin America of €72m, according to Bloomberg. It is ranked number two in the German oral contraception market and it is the second most widely used contraceptive among teenage users in the country.

The pharmaceutical company claims that clinical trials have shown the anti-androgenic properties in Belara’s formula causes “cosmetic improvement of impure skin”. This could give Richter a way to tap into the profitable beauty market. From a life-cycle management perspective it guarantees returns and growth even after patent expiration.

Women’s health is not new to Richter. Last October it acquired PregLem, a Swiss specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on women’s reproductive medicine, for €337m.

Such acquisitions will no doubt provide a platform for Richter to establish its sales and marketing teams in key Western European countries.  Grünenthal’s OC products however do not hold registration approval with the US FDA,  and so a future purchase in the US is, at the moment, just a remote possibility.