Merck Offloads Allergy Business to Dermapharm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--German drugmaker Merck KGaA is offloading its Allergopharma allergy business to Dermapharm, a leading manufacturer of off-patent branded medicines for selected markets in Germany.

The transaction encompasses the Allergopharma business in Europe and Asia, including the therapeutic and diagnostic product portfolio as well as the German production site in Reinbek near Hamburg. Allergopharma's adrenaline auto-injector development project for the treatment of anaphylactic reactions is not part of the transaction and will remain with Merck. The purchase price was not revealed, but Merck said Allergopharma had 2018 sales of roughly 88 million euro ($98 million). The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approval.

Allergopharma is well established in allergen-specific immunotherapy of type 1 allergies such as hay fever or allergic asthma, with products available in 18 countries worldwide. The sale comes as part of the company's strategy to focus on biosimilars and "innovative medicines for the unmet medical needs of patients with difficult-to-treat diseases."

"We are very excited about this step as it ensures the long-term development of Allergopharma," Merck stated. "Having won Dermapharm as a partner is the basis for this development. Dermapharm is a German listed company which has allergic diseases as a strategic focus already today. Currently, Dermapharm produces and distributes anti-symptomatic products for allergy patients. It is the clear objective of Dermapharm to strengthen and grow products for allergy treatment. To achieve this, Allergopharma and our AIT products are the perfect partner."

Last month, Industrial Info reported that Merck KGaA was going to spend 250 million euro ($275 million) to build a new facility for biotech development and manufacturing for clinical studies at its Corsier-sur-Vevey site in Switzerland. Biotech Development Center is designed to "bridge together research and manufacturing." It will comprise a building with a total of 15,700 square meters of development space, to focus the work of a number of different company units employing 250 employees working on Merck's biotech R&D pipeline at different sites today. Last year, the company committed to spending 150 million euro ($166 million) at its other Swiss manufacturing site at Aubonne to expand capacity for its biotech medicines. For additional information, see February 11, 2020, article - Merck Spending $275 Million on Swiss Biotech Centre.

Merck employs around 56,000 employees across 66 countries and in 2018 it generated sales of 14.8 billion euro ($16.4 billion).

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