Pharmaceutical giant Mundipharma International, part of the world-renowned Sackler Family, has failed for the second time to find a suitable buyer for its China unit in an asset disposal process restarted this year. Mundipharma, the maker of OxyContin, commissioned Deutsche Bank to lead the disposal, which aims to recover more than $1 billion in assets. After two rounds of bidding, Mundi Pharma failed to reach an agreement with any potential strategic buyers. Because the information is not yet public, the people involved have chosen to remain anonymous, and the specific identity of the potential buyer is not known. Sources pointed out that for potential buyers, Mengdi Pharmaceutical's valuation appears too high. It is not clear whether Mundi will continue to seek a buyer for its Chinese unit. Mundi said in an emailed statement that it remains committed to supporting healthcare professionals and patients in China, but declined to comment on the disposal or the company's future direction.
Mundi China was founded in 1993, mainly committed to the professional development, production and promotion of analgesics. At present, Mengdi China's core products listed in China cover a total of nine products in four fields: cancer pain, non-cancer pain, perioperative pain and consumer health care products. In August 2020, Moti China introduced the tumor product Pratoxa injection from Allos and successfully launched it in China, becoming the second new drug for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) in China. However, the latest inquiry shows that the relevant introduction of pratoxa injection has been removed from the official website of Munti China Pharmaceutical.
Since 2021, Mengdi's China subsidiary has started the sale process, attracting a number of bidders such as Boyu Capital and Sinopharm Holdings. During the year, the Sackler family offered a $4.3 billion settlement to potential acquirers to buy its Purdue Pharma unit and resolve its opioid litigation in the United States. However, due to valuation and parity issues, the potential buyer was not able to reach a final agreement with Mundi Pharmaceuticals.
Mundi Pharmaceuticals has operations on four continents, and its official website shows that in 2022, the company's global sales in the fields of pain treatment, oncology and respiratory diseases reached $1.7 billion.
It is worth noting that at the same time that Pfizer announced the sale of its Chinese business, many Western companies such as Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB also chose to withdraw from the Chinese market. UCB on Monday announced the sale of its neurology and allergy business in China to Singapore asset management group CBC and ABU Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala for $680 million, a decision that reflects the impact of slowing economic growth and geopolitical tensions on multinational companies' strategies in the Chinese market. Purdue, for its part, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 as it faced nearly 3,000 lawsuits.
