GSK sells brands to Aspen
August 16, 2012
PHARMACEUTICAL giant
GlaxoSmithKline has entered into
an agreement to offload the
majority of its Classic Brands in
Australia to Aspen Global
Incorporated (Aspen).
The agreement will see Aspen pay
GSK approximately £172 million
(approx AU$256.7m) in cash for 25
non-promoted and genericised
products including Valtrex, Lamictal,
Timentin, Amoxil and Aropax.
Last year the above quintet
generated total sales of
approximately £83 million (approx
AU$123.8m), as well as an
estimated £31m (approx
AU$46.2m) in the first half of 2012.
According to GSK, revenues for
these products have gradually
declined over recent years due to
local market price reductions and
generic competition.
Moving forward GSK has said that
rather than the Classic Brands, it
sees its future growth coming from patent protected brands and new
products in its pipeline.
“The Australian Government’s
mandatory 16% price cuts on
medicines when they are
genericised as well as further
annual price cuts based on
competitive discounting to
pharmacies are likely to continue,”
GSK said in a statement.
“This has made the continued
distribution of non-promoted and
genericised products from GSK
Australia Pharmaceuticals
unsuitable for planned future
growth,” GSK added.
Meanwhile, General Manager
Pharmaceuticals GSK Australia,
Geoff McDonald said that the
company’s pipeline of new drugs
has the “the potential to transform
GSK’s future and as such the
divestment of these brands allows
us to focus more on bringing these
new medicines to Australian
patients”.
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