2 July 2019 - Deborah Wilkes
Boiron has criticised a French recommendation on homoeopathy, Taisho Pharmaceutical has completed its planned acquisition of UPSA, and BioGaia has announced a deal with Abbott in Uruguay.
Boiron criticises homoeopathy move
Boiron has criticised a recommendation by France's Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) to delist homoeopathic medicines from reimbursement.
The French homoeopathy specialist said 20,000 doctors regularly prescribed homoeopathic medicines and more than a million French citizens wanted to retain reimbursement for such products.
Boiron is one of 18 organisations behind a campaign called "Mon Homéo, Mon Choix", which translates as "My Homoeopathy, My Choice". Lehning and Weleda are also supporting the campaign to retain reimbursement, along with patient groups and professional organisations.
Boiron noted that 60% of its business would be directly affected if the government implemented the recommendation.
The debate in France about homoeopathy hit Boiron's sales in the first quarter of 2019. The majority of Boiron's turnover, 59.3%, was generated in France where sales of EUR83.4 million (USD93.2 million) were down by 9.3% compared to the first quarter of 2018 (click here to read the News story).
Taisho completes acquisition of UPSA
Taisho Pharmaceutical has now completed the acquisition of Bristol-Myers Squibb's French consumer healthcare business UPSA. The Japanese company said UPSA was now a wholly owned subsidiary.
Announcing the deal in December 2018, Taisho, which is the largest OTC company in Japan, highlighted the "geographic complementarity" between UPSA's presence in Europe and its own presence in Japan and South-East Asia (click here to read the News story).
Commenting on the divestment, Bristol-Myers Squibb said it was "focusing resources on its highest priorities of discovering, developing and delivering transformational medicines for patients facing serious diseases".
BioGaia strikes deal in Uruguay
BioGaia has signed an agreement with Abbott covering exclusive rights to sell BioGaia's products under the BioGaia brand name in Uruguay.
Swedish probiotic specialist BioGaia said the launch was planned for 2020.
Isabelle Ducellier, BioGaia's chief executive officer, pointed out that Abbott had been BioGaia's partner for many years in a number of Latin American and Asian countries.
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