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Mitsubishi
Pharma and Tanabe
in $4.3B Merger Deal
February
2, 2007--
Japan
's Mitsubishi Chemical
Holdings Corp. will acquire Tanabe Seiyaku Co. Ltd.
for $4.3 billion. Merging Mitsubishi Pharma (which is
wholly owned by Mitsubishi Chemical) and Tanabe will
create the fifth-biggest drug maker in
Japan
. Combined, the companies will have revenues of some
400 billion yen ($3.3 billion) and will be able to
boost earnings through cost cuts.
The companies, which plan to merge in October, aim to post sales of
470 billion yen ($3.9 billion) and reduce their
combined headcount to 6,500 from 7,500 by the end of
March 2011. Tanabe's best-seller is the rheumatoid arthritis drug
Remicade, licensed from Johnson & Johnson.
Mitsubishi Pharma's top-selling drug is Radicut, a
brain-protecting medicine used after strokes.
Industry executives and analysts have said they expect the
Tanabe-Mitsubishi Pharma deal to kick off several
merger deals this year for Japanese drug makers,
adding that some may involve foreign drug companies.
Government moves to cut drug prices, rising
development costs, and increasing competition from
foreign firms are all factors expected to spur
mid-tier Japanese firms to seek partners. Reuters
URL: http://www.pharmadd.com/topnews/February
5 2007.asp
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