ZENTIVA ACQUIRES ASSETS IN HUNGARY

Zentiva, based in the Czech Republic, announced it has entered the Hungarian pharmaceutical market by acquiring certain generic products, personnel and other operating assets from sanofi-aventis. The move was in line with the company's plan of becoming the leading pharmaceutical company in Eastern Europe. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The company acquired a total of 23 products, which had sales of approximately 11 million euros in 2006, the company said. In addition, Zentiva and sanofi-aventis have agreed that some supporting functions will be transferred alongside the products. Zentiva also plans to introduce its own products.

"Zentiva believes that it can play an important role in the primary care market in Hungary," Jiri Michal, chairman and CEO of Zentiva, said. "Over the next 12 months we plan to introduce a number of our high quality branded generic products that have been highly successful in many of the region's other markets."

Hungary's pharmaceutical expenditure per capita is one of the highest in the region, according to Zentiva. Generics account for approximately 25 percent of the overall pharmaceutical market in terms of value.