STADA pulls out of part of Grunenthal deal

German drugmaker STADA Arzneimittel AG (SAZ: GR) says it has exercised its contractual right to withdraw from the purchase of a branded product portfolio from family-owned German pharma company Grunenthal for European Union markets in Central Europe (including Poland, etc), after the responsible anti-trust authorities had not approved the agreed transaction prior to the expiry of the contractually agreed so-called “long stop date” (as of December 31, 2011).

STADA started negotiating with Grunenthal last spring for the purchase of a branded product portfolio including the associated sales structures for numerous national markets in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the Middle East (The Pharma Letter May 16, 2011). Stada expected to pay around 360 million euros ($476 million) in cash for the portfolio including sales structures and various pipeline products. The 14 products, which include, among others, the Tramal (tramadol), Zaldiar (tramadol+paracetamol), Transtec (buprenorphine) and Palexia (tapentadol) brands in the relevant countries, are for the most part prescription drugs and positioned primarily in the area of pain.

Concludes part of deal for around 152 million euros