Medeus: How To Find & Buy a Ready-Made Euro Infrastructure

Apax Partners paid $120 million for Elan's European sales and marketing infrastructure--renamed Medeus--to buy into the in-licensing game with a ready-made continent-wide commercial network. Few specialty companies can match its scope. But with little or no track record and a portfolio of mostly older, sometimes off-patent drugs, Medeus may nevertheless have to work hard to convince licensors to hand over their products.

There is no shortage of firms seeking to become a pan-European licensing partner of choice. They want the growing number of products from smaller firms, particularly Americans, who are—theoretically--seeking a European partner capable of accessing all European markets, and likely to provide the focus and commitment that Big Pharma might not.

Few have achieved that goal. Domestic firms like Almirall Prodesfarma or Chiesi Farmaceutici SPA claim to be expanding across Southern Europe and beyond, but for the most part remain...

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