Japanese Drug Industry Makes Another Billion-Dollar U.S. Buy

More big fish, small fish in the Pharma business, this time a 3rd Japanese firm buying a US Company. Are there going to be many left here in the US, Pfizer we love you. BD

Shionogi, is buying Sciele Pharma, a small, publicly traded drug maker based in Atlanta. The all-cash deal is worth $1.42 billion, the WSJ says. Earlier this year, Takeda a huge player in Japans Pharma universe, spent about $9 billion to buy Millennium Pharmaceuticals; and last year, Eisai spent nearly $4 billion billion to buy MGI.

Shionogi is perhaps best known internationally as the discoverer of Crestor, a cholesterol drug marketed by AstraZeneca in most of the world. The company’s research pipeline includes treatments for HIV, allergies and obesity, the WSJ says.

Sciele Pharma, Inc. is a pharmaceutical company specializing in sales, marketing and development of branded prescription products focused on Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Women's Health and Pediatrics. The Company's Cardiovascular and Diabetes products treat patients with high cholesterol, hypertension, high triglycerides, unstable angina and Type 2 diabetes; its Women's Health products are designed to improve the health and well-being of women and mothers and their babies; and its Pediatrics products treat allergies, asthma, coughs and colds, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).