Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s largest generic-drugs maker, will acquire GlaxoSmithKline’s injectable thrombosis brands and a manufacturing site for $970 million, the companies announced Monday.
The drugs target blood clots.
GSK (NYSE: GSK) said the sale is part of its strategy to focus more on its emerging drug pipleine.
Noted David Redfern, Chief Strategy Officer at GSK “Arixtra and Fraxiparine are established products that have consistently delivered strong revenues. However, our focus is on delivering an unprecedented late-stage pipeline and preparing for the launch of approved medicines. Aspen is a long-term partner of GSK and will be able to dedicate the resources that these products deserve to take them forward. Importantly, we are pleased to be able to preserve the vast majority of jobs through this agreement.”
Earlier this month, GSK sold its energy drink brands for $2.1 billion.
Several hundred GSK employees will transfer to Aspen as part of the deal.
“The limited focus by GSK on this therapeutic area represents an opportunity,” Aspen said in a statement today. “GSK has not concentrated its promotion of the brands in many of the emerging markets targeted by Aspen as future areas of growth.”
Aspen will acquire the Arixtra and Fraxiparine/Fraxodi brands and a specialized production site in France, it said. Aspen will take over about 400 sales and marketing employees who work on the brands in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Aspen supplies medicine in more than 150 countries and had sales of $1.9 billion in the year through June. Johannesburg-based Aspen started offering $2.04 billion of acquisition loans to a bigger group of lenders to finance purchases of assets and brands, the company said in a statement on Sept. 13.
GSK operates its North American headquarters in RTP.
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