Merck to introduce Spanish drug in Germany

Published: 1-Dec-2002


Merck KGaA has signed a manufacturing and licensing agreement with Spanish pharma company Grupo Vita, based near Barcelona. The deal covers Eneas, a fixed-dose combination of an ACE-inhibitor, enalapril, and a calcium antagonist, nitrendipine, which is the first combination for treatment of hypertension developed by a Spanish pharma company. Under the agreement, Merck will receive commercialisation rights to Eneas in Germany and provide a licensing payment of €1.5m (US$1.5m) to Grupo Vita. The product, which was approved and introduced into the Spanish market in June, will be manufactured by Grupo Vita. There are already some 15,000 patients using the treatment in Spain, and it has also been registered in several European countries under the mutual recognition procedure.

Merck intends to introduce Eneas into the German marketplace in January 2003. 'Eneas represents a new therapeutic option for doctors and makes compliance easier for patients,' said Ullrich Hanstein, head of the ethical pharmaceutical business of Merck in Germany. 'Moreover, it fits very well into our existing portfolio of hypertension drugs in the German marketplace.'

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