Shire chief: Big pharma licensing in “like crazy”

Matthew Emmens, the chief executive of Shire, the UK’s third-largest pharmaceutical company, has spoken of the recent trends in the pharmaceutical industry.

Recently, there has been a spate of mergers between mid-cap companies looking to consolidate their assets and increase their marketing and research potential.

This includes the Bayer-Schering AG merger, Nycomed’s purchase of Altana, UCB’s acquisition of Schwarz and Merck KGaA’s takeover of Serono, the Swiss pharmaceutical company.

However, large-cap pharmaceutical companies have also been very active in their dealings with smaller companies as they attempt to keep their product pipelines active, according to Mr Emmens.

He told the Financial Times: “Large companies with gigantic holes made by patent losses are licensing in like crazy.”

Daniel Vasella, Novartis’ chief executive, told the same newspaper that the pharmaceutical sector in Europe is subject to “tremendous price pressure”, heightening the need for companies to consolidate.

Last month, Collins Stewart analyst Navid Malik said that Shire was in a strong position to be acquired because of four promising products in its pipeline that could be attractive to investors, according to Dow Jones Newswires.