Glaxo to buy China's specialist drugmaker MeiRui Pharma for $70 million

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said yesterday that it will acquire China's specialist drug maker Nanjing MeiRui Pharma for $70 million in cash, as part of its plan to expand its presence in one of the fastest-growing and most significant of the emerging markets.

The UK's biggest pharmaceutical company, GSK, will buy 90 per cent of the shares owned by Pagoda Pharmaceuticals, a British Virgin Islands-based holding company and the remaining 10 per cent from Sweden's Allergon AB.

London-based GSK said that it will gain access to MeiRui's portfolio of products, as well as its established sales and marketing platform and a manufacturing facility in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.

Nanjing, Jiangsu province-based MeiRui was established in 1996 and is majority owned by Pagoda Pharma Group.

MeiRui specialises in products to treat and diagnose urological conditions. It is one of the leaders in therapeutics for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), commonly known as an enlarged prostate, and is constantly expanding its product offerings to treat and diagnose related conditions.

The company works closely with the Chinese Urological Association to develop enhanced standards for the treatment of urological diseases and new therapies for their care.