U.S. biotech company Amgen is to buy Turkey’s Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals, a maker of injectable generic drugs, for around $700 million in a deal underscoring Western drugmakers’ thirst for emerging markets sales.
The purchase, announced by both companies on Wednesday, is the latest in a string of acquisitions by international drug companies - both at home and abroad - as they try to buy growth to offset patent expiries and price cuts.
Sales of pharmaceuticals are growing faster in emerging markets than in Europe and the United States, making them attractive to companies like Amgen.