Simcere Acquires Statin Manufacturing License

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group (NYSE: SCR) has reached an agreement to acquire the manufacturing license of Rosuvastatin from Tianjin Tianda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Rosuvastatin, a statin drug, is marketed as Crestor by AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) as a treatment for high cholesterol. Simcere will acquire equity in Tianda to gain control of the manufacturing license, though specifics of the transaction were not disclosed.

In a statement, Mr. Jinsheng Ren, Chairman and CEO of Simcere, characterized the relationship between Simcere and Tianda as a “joining of forces.” He also expects that Simcere’s marketing ability will increase the sales of the drug, which Simcere will be manufacturing.

Disclosure: none.