[China Pharmaceutical Network] Company News] German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Merck announced on the 5th that it is considering selling all or part of its assets in the consumer health sector. Some analysts pointed out that the move is aimed at alleviating the pressure of Merck's internal financial constraints.

In the announcement issued on the same day, Merck said it is also possible to find a strategic partner for the consumer health business. The process of assessing the outlook for this business is still at an early stage.

The German Merck Group has nothing to do with the US pharmaceutical giant Merck. According to the website of Merck in Germany, the group's consumer health department has about 3,800 employees and owns 10 core brands including Bion and Seven Seas in 40 markets around the world. Last year, it created about 860 million euros. $1.02 billion in sales.

Some analysts said that Merck hopes to focus its main expenses on the new anti-cancer drug Bavencio, the first new anti-cancer therapy launched by the group in the past decade, developed by Merck and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. In the first half of this year, Bavencio received FDA approval to become the world's first PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy approved for the treatment of metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (mMCC).

Boosted by the latest sale of assets, the share price of Merck's listing in Frankfurt rose nearly 3% in early trading on the 5th.

Original title: German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Merck considers selling consumer health business

(Source: China Securities Journal? China Securities Network (Beijing))