Will Merck India Divest More Of Its Legacy/Matured Meds?

Last year, Merck India sold off a few legacy Organon drug franchises in India (which regular readers will recall was legacy Schering-Plough). Like the rumor reported below, the meds then divested were old, mature brands -- with good cash flow but scant sales revenue growth in their profiles. It would seem a similar set of deals is being bandied about, at least on a preliminary basis, again as to Organon properties, inside India. To be clear, this deal -- should it occur -- would not affect any of Kenilworth's operations outside of the country. So here you go -- what we know, or at least, what we've heard -- after a fine vacation-filled week. . . see below.

As reported overnight, in India then -- from the Delhi bureau of The Economic Times -- an in-country paper (but long ago as many may know, it started life as a British property):

. . . .Merck will probably narrow down on a few therapy areas in the future like its diabetes brands, new generation anti-cancer drugs like Keytruda and vaccines.

"The idea is perhaps to shift gears from a mass market-based revenue generation strategy to improving quality of revenues," another industry executive noted. Last December, MSD had sold five gastrointestinal brands to Piramal Enterprises for Rs 92 crore.

Those products belonged to Organon, a women's healthcare company, which was acquired globally by Schering Plough in 2007. Merck and Schering Plough agreed to merge in 2009 as part of a $41 billion transaction. . . .

An O/T one is up next, on the politics of exclusion -- and losing strategies. Onward then, under a gray but inviting city-scape, for the leisurely walk in. Be excellent to one another. . . .