GSK confirms emerging markets strategy, buying B-MS' Egyptian unit for $210M

Confirming UK drug giant GlaxoSmithKline's intentions to diversify into new sectors under its new chief executive Andrew Witty (Marketletter August 4), the firm says that it will acquire the Egyptian mature products business of US major Bristol-Myers Squibb for $210.0 million, in a move to accelerate sales growth and further extend its pharmaceutical portfolio in emerging markets.

Commenting on the deal, 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."

This latest move follows the previous accord in South Africa with local drugmaker Aspen and its partner Strides Arcolabs, which gave the UK firm access to a broad and diverse portfolio of branded pharmaceuticals on a license and supply basis in countries across emerging markets (Marketletter July 28). It is also recognition of the changing dynamics in the global drug market, where the top 50 companies face patent expiries on $115.0 billion worth of drugs between 2007 and 2012, according to market research group Datamonitor (Marketletter October 20).