Amgen to buy Turkey’s Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals for $700 mn

Amgen Inc, the world's largest biotechnology company, yesterday said that it will buy Turkey's Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals for nearly $700 million in order to expand in emerging markets.

Privately held, Istanbul-based Mustafa Nevzat or MN Pharmaceuticals as the generic-drug maker is known, is the leading supplier of pharmaceuticals to the hospital sector and a major supplier of injectable medicines in Turkey.

The nearly 90 year-old company, which had revenues of approximately $200 million in 2011 and has grown on average at double-digit rates over the past five years, also has a successful and fast growing export business.

It was the first Turkish pharmaceutical company to win a license from the US Food and Drug Administration to sell products in the US, according to the company's website.

Under the deal, Amgen will acquire 95.6 per cent of the shares in MN Pharmaceuticals for around $700 million in cash.

"Amgen is dedicated to making our innovative medicines available to patients in major markets around the world," said Robert Bradway, president and chief operating officer at Amgen.