Japanese brewer to buy pharma firm
A leading Japanese brewer, Kirin Holdings, is in negotiations to acquire major pharmaceutical company Kyowa Hakko Kogyo to bolster its pharmaceutical and biotechnology segments and offset a slowdown in its mainstay beer operations.
A leading Japanese brewer, Kirin Holdings, is in negotiations to acquire major pharmaceutical company Kyowa Hakko Kogyo to bolster its pharmaceutical and biotechnology segments and offset a slowdown in its mainstay beer operations.
Under the proposed arrangement, Kirin would keep Kyowa Hakko listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and allow it to operate independently. It would, however, merge its group pharmaceutical firm Kirin Pharma with Kyowa Hakko, creating a company with a combined drug business revenue of about ¥200bn (Euro 1.24bn) and thus on par with the industry's 10th largest player, Shionogi.
While a series of patent expirations have resulted in lower revenue for some mainstay drugs, Kyowa Hakko has strength in its technologies for antibody-based pharmaceutical products. Kirin holds separate technologies for antibody drugs, so combining the two companies will boost development of new drugs aided by capital-rich Kirin.