Johannesburg - Health-care brand company, Ascendis Health, has acquired 85 products to secure its future access to registered products in new and rapidly emerging therapeutic areas.
Ascendis bought the products from Sandoz South Africa. Sandoz is a division of Novartis, a global health-care company.
The acquisition of the new products will allow Ascendis future access to registered products, including in the area of oncology – which deals with the treatment of tumours – and women’s health and urology – covering the function and disorders of the urinary system, the company said.
These new products would also strengthen Ascendis’ position in anti-infectives – drugs capable of acting against infection – and in neuroscience – products covering the nervous system, the company said.
The company’s shares on the JSE rose on news of the deal before closing up 1.86 percent to R16.40.
Ascendis Health chief executive, Karsten Wellner, said: “This acquisition offers us direct and immediate access to market-leading generic technology while broadening our reach and making affordable medicines available to patients, physicians and health-care providers worldwide.”
The company in August announced its first international deal after it acquired a 49 percent stake in Spanish pharmaceutical group, Farmalider, for R210 million, with a right to buy the remainder of the business in two further tranches over the next five years.
Farmalider, which has its headquarters in Madrid, specialises in the development and manufacture of generic pharmaceuticals, and is a market leader in the ibuprofen and paracetamol markets in Spain.
The company said the Farmalider deal offered a world-class offshore development and manufacturing facility.
Organic growth
“The procurement of these dossiers and the successful development of the products will offer sustained organic and new market growth opportunities for our PharmaMed division,” said Ascendis, “as we unlock operational efficiencies and explore new markets, while strengthening our diversification strategy and foreign earnings position.”
The global generics market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11 percent to reach $283 billion (R3.88 trillion) by 2018. Products worth more than $98bn are expected to lose exclusivity over that time.
Many governments are also implementing measures to reduce health-care costs and are encouraging health-care providers to substitute generic alternatives for patented drugs.
“This is an exciting and extremely positive development. The Ascendis Pharma division will bring new products to market soon to positively contribute towards overall shareholder value,” Wellner said.
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