April 23, 2007

 

Alpharma buys Chinese antibiotic company

 

 

Drug developer Alpharma Inc. has bought Shenzhou Tongde Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a China-based company involved in the production of antibiotics for livestock.

 

Alpharma's acquisition follows its February purchase of China's Yantai Jinghai pharmaceutical company in Shandong province, a major developer of animal health products in China.

 

Shenzhou Tongde Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd is a company based in Shenzhou city, Hebei province, with annual sales of US$5 million.

 

Details of the deal were not disclosed.

 

The company produces zinc bacitracin, a livestock antibiotic that keeps livestock healthy, Alpharma said.

 

Alpharma said it would continue to support Tongde's customer base and also export the product to other markets.

 

In 2006, an agreement was announced with Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to double the capacity of the company's active pharmaceutical ingredient product, vancomycin.

 

Vancomycin is usually a last resort antibiotic used in infections caused by gram-positive bacteria. 

 

The product is the company's largest and fastest growing segment.

 

The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, Dean Mitchell, Alpharma's president and chief executive, said in a statement.

 

Alpharma is a global specialty pharmaceutical company with leadership positions in products for humans and animals. The company recorded US$325 million in sales of its animal product segments in 2005.