GSK takes Egyptian lead
pharmafile | October 16, 2008 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Egypt, GSK, em
GlaxoSmithKline has extended its reach into emerging markets by acquiring Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Egyptian mature products business for £125 million
The move makes GSK the leading pharma company in Egypt, with a 9% share of the country’s pharmaceutical market.
Commenting on the acquisition Abbas Hussain, president of emerging markets at GSK, said: “This acquisition is an important step forward in GSK’s strategy to accelerate sales growth in emerging markets.
“It will enable us to build and diversify our existing branded pharmaceuticals portfolio and signals our strong commitment to provide quality medicines to patients in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.”
The BMS deal gives GSK 20 branded products across four therapeutic areas, including the antibiotic Duricef, the ACE inhibitors Capozide and Capoten, iron supplement Theragran-H and topical steroid Kenacomb.
Total sales of the combined mature products pharmaceuticals business in 2007 were $48.5 million.
GSK will also take ownership of BMS’s high quality manufacturing facility in Giza in Greater Cairo, which supplies the acquired products.
This will give GSK the ability to export generic versions of the acquired products to markets outside Egypt and creates a further opportunity to drive sales growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
GSK’s chief executive Andrew Witty made tapping the potential of emerging markets one of his strategic priorities, shortly after he took over the company’s helm earlier this year.
Emerging markets are forecast to account for 40% of growth in the worldwide pharmaceutical market by 2020. Egypt is the fourth-largest economy in the MENA region with a population of 76 million representing one-quarter of the entire region’s population.
The pharmaceutical market in Egypt is worth approximately $2.1 billion (£1.1 billion) and grew last year by 19% in value.
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