Valeant makes acquisitions in Brazil, Austria

Valeant Pharmaceutical has continued its run of acquisitions with the purchase of a minority stake in Brazilian firm Pele Nova and various branded generic products from Austria's Gerot Lannach.

The fast-expanding pharma company said it was buying a portfolio of generic products from Gerot Lannach that are sold mainly in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The deal also includes a 10-year strategic partnership that will see some of the Austrian firm's other products distributed by Valeant in emerging markets such as South East Asia and Latin America, and vice versa.

Total revenues from the first block of products was $55m last year, up 20 per cent on 2010, and Valeant said it has acquired them for "less than three times sales", although further financial details have not been disclosed.

Meanwhile, Valeant has taken a 19.9 per cent stake in Pele Nova for "less than $10m", according to the company.

Pele Nova specialises in tissue regeneration products and developed Regederm, a wound-healing drug that was recently approved n Brazil and should reach the market there next month.

Valeant already had a working relationship with Pele Nova via Instituto Terapeutico Delta, a company it acquired in 2010 that has a license to Regederm.

The minority stake has allowed it to reduce the royalty rate payable on Regederm sales, whilst securing rights to all of Pele Nova's future products in Brazil and first-refusal on a worldwide basis.

Valeant has been growing by acquisitions in recent years, increasing 2011 revenues by more than a third.

These purchases included prescription and over-the-counter medicines firm iNova, Sanofi's Dermik dermatology unit, Ortho Dermatologics from Janssen Pharmaceutica and Canadian consumer healthcare firm Afexa Life Sciences.

This year has seen the company continue its run of acquisitions, with the purchase of Brazilian over-the-counter (OTC) medicine and dietary supplement manufacturer Probiotica and ophthalmology specialist Eyetech, which sells age-related macular degeneration (AMD) drug Macugen (pegaptanib sodium) in the US.

Valeant has also missed out on a couple of major acquisition targets, notably eyecare specialist Ista Pharmaceuticals last month and biopharma company Cephalon in 2011.