Pharmaceutical Business review

Merck, Simcere partner to form JV

Initially, the partnership will be focused on branded pharmaceutical products for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Under the deal, both the parties will offer combined portfolio of drugs for cardiovascular disease which include Merck’s ZOCOR (simvastatin), COZAAR (losartan) and RENITEC (enalapril) and Simcere’s XINTA (levamlodipine) and SHUFUTAN (rosuvastatin).

Additionally, in metabolic field, the tie up aims to maximize the access of sitagliptin drug as a treatment of type 2 diabetes.