Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings Co., Ltd. ("Taisho Holdings") is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Taisho Pharmaceutical") [Head Office: Tokyo, Japan] has reached an agreement with the Roche Group (Head Office: Basel, Switzerland; "Roche"), the ultimate holding company of which is SIX listed Roche Holding Ltd on February 28, 2014 to acquire brand assets, such as trademark, of anti-inflammatory analgesic Flanax® held by Roche in the Philippines (the "Transaction" ).

Taisho Holdings and its group companies ("Taisho Group") have been working to achieve strategic enhancement in the self-medication business in Asian region where future growth can be expected. Taisho Pharmaceutical acquired Bristol-Myers Squibb's brand assets of OTC drugs in Asia and the shares of PT Bristol-Myers Squibb Indonesia Tbk (Indonesia) in 2009, acquired the shares of Hoepharma Holdings Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia) in 2011, and integrated its OTC drug business to the joint venture company with Osotspa Co., Ltd. (Thailand) in 2012, thus steadily expanding its market presence in Asia. The Transaction is part of such strategic initiative, which enables Taisho Group to strengthen further its business base in the Philippines.

  1. Outline of the Transaction
    1. (1) Assets that are subject to the Transaction (the "Transaction Assets")
      Trademarks, product registration and inventory for anti-inflammatory analgesic Flanax® in the Philippines
    2. (2) Date of the Transaction
      February 28, 2014 ; Execution of the definitive agreement and closing relating to the Transaction
  2. Purpose of the Transaction
    The anti-inflammatory analgesic Flanax® that Taisho Pharmaceutical acquires in the Transaction is one of the leading brands in the Philippines' anti-inflammatory analgesic market. Since Taisho Group already markets an antipyretic analgesic brand Tempra® in Southeast Asia including the Philippines, adding the brand of Flanax® to Taisho Group's product portfolio is expected to reinforce further its presence in the Philippines' analgesic market. Taisho Group will endeavor to create synergy with its existing business base such as sales network, pursuing further sales expansion and brand building of Flanax®.
  3. Future Outlook
    This transaction is expected to have very little impact on the current financial results of Taisho Holdings.

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