Sanofi Set For Expansion In Sth Africa With OmniMed

French drugmaker Sanofi is moving to establish a direct presence in the South African pharmaceutical market, valued at around $1.1 billion in 1995 (including prescription and over-the-counter medicines).

Earlier this month, Sanofi concluded a joint-venture agreement with OmniMed (Pty) Ltd, a private South African health care company equally owned by Adrien Pule (managing director of OmniMed) and Barney Hurwitz (founder and managing director of Clinic Holdings, a leading private hospital group in the country). Sanofi will be majority shareholder (51%) in the new JV, to be called Sanofi OmniMed and located in Johannesburg.

Sanofi OmniMed will begin operating at the beginning of 1997, at which time the respective pharmaceutical activities of the two partners will be merged. It will distribute products that are already sold in South Africa under license to third parties as well as new drugs coming from Sanofi's research pipeline. In addition, Sanofi Research plans to create a clinical trial center in Johannesburg.