Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB SA (Euronext: UCB) plans to accelerate its US transition to a purely biopharmaceutical company focusing on immunology and neurology and will quit the US primary care market, in a strategic decision that will affect Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA). The two companies have had a market agreement for the past two years, in which UCB markets Teva respiratory products in the US.
UCB is quitting the US primary care market 18 months after doing the same in Western Europe. The decision comes into effective March 1, at which point UCB will no longer market Teva's products.
UCB said that Teva will undertake full commercial responsibility for the marketing of its ProAir asthma inhaler, which until now has been marketed by UCB representatives.
Teva and UCB signed their marketing agreement in early 2008. Teva sought to increase its share of the respiratory disease treatment market. In its full-year financial report for 2008, Teva said that the UCB deal had added 391 medical representatives to market Teva's respiratory products, and the representatives of the two companies had reached 621 altogether.
UCB did not detail the reasons for cancelling its marketing agreement with Teva, or whether it will pay Teva any compensation.
Teva said in response that it expected no material change in its strategy from the cancellation of its agreement with UCB for the marketing of ProAir in the US. Teva added that it has more than 300 of its own sales staff and advertisers, and that it would not have to hire more. The cancellation of the agreement will not have a material affect on Teva's results.
Teva's share closed at $56.72 on Nasdaq on Friday. The share fell 0.8% on the TASE today to NIS 210.80.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 31, 2010
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