Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., announced the signing of a framework agreement to acquire a range of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and food supplements, assuming fulfillment of certain conditions, from Unipharm Inc. (Unipharm), a specialist healthcare company headquartered in New York. These products are for promotion and sale primarily in Russia, where Takeda has a strong presence providing innovative medicines, primary care medicines and OTC products to its people and patients. The portfolio is a strong strategic fit with Takeda’s Russian OTC business.
“This agreement demonstrates Takeda’s commitment to better health for patients across Emerging Markets with a range of trusted and proven products” commented Ricardo Marek, President, Emerging Markets Business Unit of Takeda.
Russia is a key country for Takeda’s Emerging Markets business. Takeda Russia delivered underlying revenue growth of over 20% in the first half of FY2017, and is one of the fastest growing companies locally. The products in scope are highly synergistic with our existing OTC business and will further strengthen our top 10 position in Russia, where a significant portion of the pharmaceutical market is retail.
The framework agreement, which has been signed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG, includes the rights for a number of Unipharm’s OTC products such as Vitrum (supplement), Artra (pain relief) and Melaxen (sleeping agent). The transaction was first mentioned on February 1, 2017 as part of Takeda’s FY2016 Q3 announcement following a 40.8 Bn Yen payment into escrow. To date, Takeda has released 16.2 Bn Yen from the escrow account to Unipharm as it has reached one of the pre-defined milestones. Thus far we have acquired selected brands within the market-leading Vitrum range of multivitamin products from this framework agreement. Takeda expects the remaining conditions of this deal to be completed during FY2018.
This agreement is expected to be accretive to Takeda’s Underlying Core Earnings, but will have minimal impact in FY2017. Further financial terms of this agreement have not been disclosed.
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
