Bayer buys GlaxoSmithKline’s Pritor business

Bayer is to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) European business for Boehringer Ingelheim’s blood pressure treatment Telmisartan (Pritor and PritorPlus).

The sum paid to GSK has not been disclosed but Bayer has stated the business had an annual turnover of around 65 million euros in 2005.

Wolfgang Plischke, president of Bayer HealthCare’s pharmaceuticals division, said: “The acquisition of Pritor provides an excellent strategic fit for Bayer HealthCare’s pharma business.

“The transaction allows us to utilize our excellent market knowledge and experience with the product in already existing Telmisartan markets.”

The agreement allows Bayer, which already co-markets the drug in a number of European countries, to expand the number of nations it sells the drug in.

Under the previous agreement Bayer promotes Telmisartan under the brand name Kinzalmono and Kinzalkomb in markets across Europe including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland.

GSK will continue to co-market the drug as Pritor under an agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim in five countries.

Telmisartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), provides 24-hour blood pressure control. ARBs are the fastest growing and the most competitive segment in the European hypertension market, with a growth rate of about 15 per cent.

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