Pharmacy

 

German government pushing ahead with cannabis legalisation

The German health minister is pressing ahead with plans to legalise cannabis, despite concerns from some quarters that it could be challenged at the EU level, and unresolved questions about what the regulatory framework will look like. HBI speaks to legal and policy experts, and hears that medical cannabis producers have an early adopter advantage against potential rivals - and there are health implications if legislation passes.

How can you build a successful health care science cluster in Europe?

Europe, with its often rigorous divides between research institutes and university hospitals, has fallen a long way behind power houses such as MIT/Harvard/Mass General in the generation of applied medical science. So how do you build a successful healthcare science cluster in Europe?

“For sale” Fresenius creates new $2.4bn business

As Germany-based healthcare conglomerate Fresenius looks to simplify the group's structure, selling off non-core parts of a business which currently spans hospitals, dialysis, pharma, rehabilitation and more, it is building a $2.4bn new business partnership in the US. We speak to an EU-based source familiar with Fresenius to put this all in context.

Stanley Capital acquires DSS

Stanley Capital, the London-based private equity fund, is to buy Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance Services Solutions ("DSS") from Clario, a global clinical trials player. "DDS" specializes in pharmacovigilance - the assessment and monitoring of interactions between drugs and their effects on the human body. HBI talks to Simon Cottle, the founding partner at Stanley Capital.

Bain and CVC ‘buying Boots’

Buyout firms Bain Capital and CVC are reportedly joining forces to put in a multibillion pound bid for UK pharmacy, health and beauty retailer Boots, which also has a presence in Thailand, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Malta and Indonesia.

McKesson sells UK arm to turnaround specialist as it exits Europe

US-based pharmacy group McKesson has sold its UK arm - made up of retail pharmacy group Lloyds Pharmacy and a drug distribution business - to Aurelius, an investor specialised in turnarounds. The new owner is likely to focus on the rationalisation of the business, HBI hears.

Apollo’s $3.2bn pharmacy arm selling stake after spin off

Apollo Hospitals, India's largest hospital group by revenue, has spun off its pharmacy and digital business into a new subsidiary and appointed banks to sell a 15-20% stake. Amazon was considering a $100m stake in the division at the end of last year as India's online pharmacy sector continues to see a glut of investment with rival PharmEasy also targeting a $9bn IPO.

How the world’s largest consumer PE house views healthcare

At HBI 2020 we interviewed Chinta Bhagat, a managing partner at private equity house L Catterton, the world’s biggest private equity investor in consumer products and retail, about the destruction of the general hospital and the new digital models that will replace it. “If you don’t have digital embedded in everything you do in such a way as to give the customer a choice of how to interact with you, your business will eventually be destroyed,” he says. Bhagat should know, he led McKinsey’s healthcare practice in Asia for many years and at Khazanah Nasional was intimately involved in the creation of Pan-Asian hospital chain IHH. He is now scouting the world for digital healthcare investment opportunities.

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