Fresenius has made agreements to buy U.S. generic drugmaker Akorn for $4.75 billion and the biosimilars arm of Germany's Merck KGaA. The German healthcare group had recently purchased a Spanish hospital chain for 5.8 billion euros.
These deals align with Fresenius's focus on drugs that have lost patent protection. The Akorn acquisition will add products like medical creams, ophthalmic drugs, nasal sprays and respiratory drugs, where competition is relatively benign.
The Merck KGaA deal is Fresenius's entry into biosimilars. Fresenius will pay 170 million euros up front and up to 500 million in milestone payments tied to the achievement of drug development targets.
Read the Reuters report