JWP Acquires Euvipharm for Further Growth in Pharmerging Market

JW Pharmaceutical (JWP), a Korea-based pharmaceutical company, announced it acquired Euvipharm, a Long An, Vietman-based manufacturer of pharmaceutical ingredients and finished products, to build its presence in the pharmerging market. 

A contract was signed on Sept. 4, 2019 that entitles JWP to 100% of the shares of Euvipharm, making it the first Korean company to acquire entire shares of a Vietnamese company and operate it directly, according to a company press release. The exact cost of the acquisition was not disclosed and remains under a mutual agreement between the two parties. 

Euvipharm will provide the company with a GMP-compliant pharmaceutical plant equipped with a total floor area of 35,000 m² and a capacity to produce 1.937 billion pharmaceutical products a year, the largest capacity in Vietnam.

The acquisition comes after JWP transferred its novel atopic dermatitis drug technology to LEO Pharma in 2018 and introduced a total parenteral nutrition product to the European market for the first time as an Asian drugmaker, thus setting its sights on a strategic direction toward the pharmerging market.

“With the acquisition of Euvipharm, now we have secured a large-scale plant with advanced technology and modernized equipment in Vietnam, an emerging manufacturing powerhouse,” said Yeong-Seop Shin, CEO, JWP, in the press release. “Beginning with Vietnam as our outpost, we will continue to expand JW[P] brand in the global market.”

The agreement was supported by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency after JWP participated in its project for M&A overseas companies. According to the release, the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market was worth approximately $4.7 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow up to $7 billion by 2020.

Source: JW Pharmaceutical Corp.