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78313
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 14:41
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http://m.oananews.org//node/78313
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Dainippon Sumitomo to buy U.S. drugmaker Sepracor for $2.6 bil.
TOKYO, Sept. 3 Kyodo -
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. said Thursday it has agreed to buy U.S.
pharmaceutical maker Sepracor Inc. for about $2.6 billion (around 240 billion
yen) in an attempt to tap into the world's largest drugs market amid saturated
demand at home.
Sepracor, a Nasdaq-listed company which deals with drugs including those to
treat respiratory and central nervous system disorders, will become a wholly
owned unit of Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma America Holdings Inc., a U.S.
subsidiary of the Japanese drugmaker.
The Osaka-based firm, which has depended on the domestic market for more than
90 percent of its consolidated annual sales, is now keen to cash in on the huge
U.S. market as there are slim chances for growth in the Japanese market as the
country's population declines.
''Growth in the Japanese market is highly limited. We decided (our business)
will taper off if we continued to operate only at home,'' Dainippon Sumitomo
President Masayo Tada said at a press conference in Tokyo.
The buyout move follows a recent raft of acquisitions of foreign pharmaceutical
makers by Japanese drugmakers also eager to strengthen their global profiles in
the face of the anemic Japanese market.
Dainippon Sumitomo, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Co., said it will soon
launch a tender offer under which it will pay $23 for each outstanding Sepracor
share, representing a 27.6 percent premium to its closing price on Tuesday.
The deal will be financed by around 50 billion yen ($540 million) in cash at
hand and about 200 billion yen ($2.16 billion) in bridge loans.
The company plans to start marketing Lurasidone, currently an experimental drug
to treat schizophrenia, in the United States in 2011 and is eager to gain
access to Sepracor's strong sales network in the country, including around
1,200 sales professionals.
''Going to the United States is inevitable if we want to maximize our product
potential,'' Tada said, adding the acquisition of Sepracor would raise its
overseas sales ratio to around 40 percent from less than 10 percent at present.
Sepracor, based in Massachusetts, currently markets six U.S. Food and Drug
Administration-approved drugs, including Lunesta to treat insomnia and Xopenex
for asthma, and other additional drugs in Canada.
''The transaction should enable Sepracor to enhance its product pipeline and
enjoy sustainable growth well into the future,'' Sepracor President Adrian
Adams said in a statement.
Last year, Japan's top drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. bought out
Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., also based in Massachusetts, while Daiichi
Sankyo Co. brought Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. of India under its wing. Shionogi
& Co. has made Atlanta, Georgia-based Sciele Pharma Inc. into a wholly owned
unit.
==Kyodo
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. said Thursday it has agreed to buy U.S.
pharmaceutical maker Sepracor Inc. for about $2.6 billion (around 240 billion
yen) in an attempt to tap into the world's largest drugs market amid saturated
demand at home.
Sepracor, a Nasdaq-listed company which deals with drugs including those to
treat respiratory and central nervous system disorders, will become a wholly
owned unit of Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma America Holdings Inc., a U.S.
subsidiary of the Japanese drugmaker.
The Osaka-based firm, which has depended on the domestic market for more than
90 percent of its consolidated annual sales, is now keen to cash in on the huge
U.S. market as there are slim chances for growth in the Japanese market as the
country's population declines.
''Growth in the Japanese market is highly limited. We decided (our business)
will taper off if we continued to operate only at home,'' Dainippon Sumitomo
President Masayo Tada said at a press conference in Tokyo.
The buyout move follows a recent raft of acquisitions of foreign pharmaceutical
makers by Japanese drugmakers also eager to strengthen their global profiles in
the face of the anemic Japanese market.
Dainippon Sumitomo, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Co., said it will soon
launch a tender offer under which it will pay $23 for each outstanding Sepracor
share, representing a 27.6 percent premium to its closing price on Tuesday.
The deal will be financed by around 50 billion yen ($540 million) in cash at
hand and about 200 billion yen ($2.16 billion) in bridge loans.
The company plans to start marketing Lurasidone, currently an experimental drug
to treat schizophrenia, in the United States in 2011 and is eager to gain
access to Sepracor's strong sales network in the country, including around
1,200 sales professionals.
''Going to the United States is inevitable if we want to maximize our product
potential,'' Tada said, adding the acquisition of Sepracor would raise its
overseas sales ratio to around 40 percent from less than 10 percent at present.
Sepracor, based in Massachusetts, currently markets six U.S. Food and Drug
Administration-approved drugs, including Lunesta to treat insomnia and Xopenex
for asthma, and other additional drugs in Canada.
''The transaction should enable Sepracor to enhance its product pipeline and
enjoy sustainable growth well into the future,'' Sepracor President Adrian
Adams said in a statement.
Last year, Japan's top drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. bought out
Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., also based in Massachusetts, while Daiichi
Sankyo Co. brought Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. of India under its wing. Shionogi
& Co. has made Atlanta, Georgia-based Sciele Pharma Inc. into a wholly owned
unit.
==Kyodo
