Sanofi-Aventis China to set up JV with Minsheng Pharmaceutical

Oct. 26, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Sanofi-Aventis, the fourth-largest pharmaceutical company by prescription sales, Saturday signed a letter of intent with China's Minsheng Pharmaceutical Group on setting up a joint venture that focuses on vitamin and mineral medicines.

The new JV will be a strategic platform for Sanofi-Aventis to enter the Chinese OTC medicine market, according to Olivier Charmeil, Sanofi-Aventis' senior vice president for pharmaceutical operations in Asia/Pacific and Japan, adding that China will become the world's second largest OTC market in 2010.

Industry analysts revealed that the scale of China's OTC medicine market amounted to RMB 70 billion and the figure will maintain a two-digit growth over the next five years.

The 21-Super Vita multivitamin-multimineral tablets manufactured by Minsheng Pharmaceutical have been the best-selling vitamin pills in China for years.

Reported, the European pharmaceutical company will take a majority stake in the JV.