BASF Declares Interest In Boots' Pharma Unit

BASF of Germany has said that it is interested in the UK company Boots' pharmaceutical unit, but would not go as far as saying that it had made an offer to acquire the business.

BASF made it clear around a year ago that it considered its pharmaceuticals business of great importance to the group, and that it is actively pursuing a pharmaceutical growth strategy on a worldwide basis (Marketletters passim). Furthermore, the group recently entered the German generics market through an agreement with Hexal of Germany (Marketletter September 5).

Jens-Uwe Bliesener, corporate development executive at BASF's pharmaceutical unit Knoll, told the press last week that BASF is trying to cover "certain weaknesses in regions" such as the UK and France. BASF's R&D focuses on the following areas: cardiovascular, central nervous system, oncology and immunology, and certain areas of gastroenterology and dermatology. Its research budget for the current year is expected to be around 500 million Deutschemarks ($329.5 million).