Roussel Uclaf Sees Pharma Focus Strategy Paying Off

French drugmaker Roussel Uclaf, majority-controlled by Germany's Hoechst, is the number two company in the French pharmaceutical market, with a 6.1% share. It is number 14 in Europe, with a market share of 2.0%, and 34 worldwide with less than 1% of total pharmaceutical sales, and total health care sales amounted to 12 billion French francs ($2.34 billion) in 1994.

In its annual report for 1994, RU says the strategy implemented over the past few years has bought tangible results, with a refocusing of its core business of pharmaceuticals, and as part of this drive RU transferred its Crop Protection and Environmental Health operations to a new joint venture called Hoechst AgroEvo GmbH, effective January 1, 1994.

Health care now accounts for 74% of the group's business, with fine chemicals 12%, crop protection and environmental health 5%, animal health 5% and other businesses 4% of total turnover.