Japan's Shionogi Will Acquire Sciele

Aiming to increase its sales outside its home country, Japanese pharmaceutical firm Shionogi will pay $1.1 billion to acquire Sciele Pharma, a drug company based in Atlanta. Osaka-based Shionogi, with annual sales of about $2 billion, develops drugs for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, and cancer. The company relies on the Japanese market for more than 80% of its sales. Sciele's portfolio is focused on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, women's health, and pediatrics. Among the drugs Sciele is developing, six have reached or recently completed Phase III clinical trials, Shionogi says. Sciele will also provide Shionogi with a U.S.-based sales force of 770 people. Japanese drug companies have been on an international buying spree. Daiichi Sankyo announced this summer that it would buy India's Ranbaxy Laboratories for about $4 billion, and earlier, Takeda Pharmaceutical announced that it was paying $8.8 billion to acquire Millennium Pharmaceuticals.