Merck, Brazil’s Supera Farma to form JV for generic drugs
16 Feb 2012
US drug giant Merck & Co today said that it plans to form a joint venture with Brazilian pharmaceutical company Supera Farma Laboratorios S A, co-owned by Cristália and Eurofarma to market, distribute and sell a portfolio of innovative pharmaceutical and branded generic products in Brazil.
The joint venture, which will be 51 per cent owned by Merck, with Cristália and Eurofarma owning the rest, will initially include about 30 products across a range of therapeutic areas of all three companies.
The venture will be managed by a joint board and leadership team consisting of members of senior management from the three companies and will have its own dedicated sales force separate from Merck, Cristália and Europharma, but will leverage the parent companies' infrastructures for activities such as sales force training.
The parent companies will continue to maintain separate businesses in Brazil.
Founded in 1972, privately held Cristália Labs produces high quality medicines that focus on specialty areas such as psychiatry, anesthesia and pain relief.
The company has become a healthcare leader across Latin America and exports to around 40 countries across Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.