German drug company Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH on Thursday, Jan. 15. said it was considering a sale of its U.S. generics business amid a global consolidation that would allow it to focus on developing new, higher-profit treatments. The privately held Ingelheim, Germany-based company said it hasn't yet made a final decision on the unit, Roxane Laboratories Inc., which is based in Columbus, Ohio. Boehringer's announcement follows a Bloomberg reporting citing unnamed sources that the company hopes to bring in €2 billion ($2.3 billion) with the sale and that Morgan Stanley had been tapped to run the auction. Boehringer last year sold its Bedford Laboratories U.S. injectable generics unit after the Food and Drug Administration closed one of its contract manufacturing sites because of quality problems. Hikma Pharmaceuticals plc bought the Bedford, Ohio-based company for $300 million after calling off a stragic review of its own injectables unit. At the time, Hikma said it had no plans to restart the shuttered plant. Many pharmaceutical companies are carving out non-core divisions to focus on specific areas of healthcare. Acquisitive Irish drugmaker Perrigo Co. plc has taken advantage of the practice to expand its generics empire – last year it agreed to buy Belgium's Omega Pharma NV for €3.6 billion and Elan Corp. a year earlier for $8.6 billion. And Mylan Inc. in July agreed to buy the generics business of Abbott Laboratories for $5.3 billion. Belgium's UCB SA had also hoped to hand of its Princeton, N.J.-based Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals Inc. generics unit to Advent International Corp. and Avista Capital Partners for $1.53 billion but questions over a ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, treatment scuppered the deal in December. Back at Boehringer, the company may also be interested in asset swaps to exit generics while gaining valuable prescription medications, according to Bloomberg. It may also use any proceeds from a sale to go shopping. The unit for sale has 1,300 employees but Boehringer doesn't break out sales figures for the division, which also includes a manufacturing site for the generics and some proprietary formulations. The seller's sales declined by 4.2% in 2013 to €14 billion as it wrestled with a strong euro. Operating profit rose 14% in 2013 to €2.1 billion. The company's best-seller is the Spiriva chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment, with €3.6 billion in annual sales. The company is owned by its founding Boehringer family. Read more from:
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