Amgen has entered into an agreement with Turkish pharmaceutical company Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals (MN) to acquire 95% of its shares for $700 million.

The cash deal will expand Amgen’s presence in Turkey and the surrounding regions, which the company has targeted as large, fast-growing, priority markets.

Levent Selamoglu, General Manager and CEO of MN, says the “combination of MN and Amgen creates an innovation leader in Turkey with unique capabilities”.

Established in the early 20^th Century, MN is the leading supplier of pharmaceuticals to the hospital sector and a major supplier of injectable medicines in Turkey. It also boasts a successful export business.

The company had revenues of around $200m last year and has grown on average at double-digit rates in local currency since 2007.

Robert Bradway, President and Chief Operating Officer at Amgen, says the deal continues the company’s global expansion strategy. He commented: “Amgen is dedicated to making our innovative medicines available to patients in major markets around the world.

“Together with MN’s staff and management team, we plan to grow our business with high quality and innovative medicines in Turkey and the surrounding region.”

The deal has been approved by both sets of board of directors and is awaiting customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, before being completed.

Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, already has a presence in Turkey after opening an affiliate in 2010 and currently markets two products there. It plans to develop its robust pipeline of clinical candidates for the benefit of patients in the country, as well as other markets around the world.

Another counterfeit version of Roche’s cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab) has reached US clinics via a UK-based distributor.

The fake vials reported by the FDA were labeled as Altuzan, the Turkish version of Avastin, and did not contain any active ingredient.

Most of the vials were shipped to the US by UK distributor River East Supplies, which purchased them from a wholesaler in Turkey.

The discovery follows that of a different batch of fake bevacizumab, labeled as Avastin, in the US healthcare system in February.

One of the distributors under FDA investigation for supplying vials from that batch is the owner of River East Supplies.

Altuzan is not approved for use in the US, but the availability of the fake product via Californian supplier Ban Dune Marketing – which sells cancer drugs at ‘confidential’ discounts – led doctors to purchase it.

FDA spokesperson Connie Jung commented: “What we’re seeing is a pattern of this risky practice of purchasing unapproved drugs from foreign suppliers.”

The FDA has advised doctors not to use any products purchased from Ban Dune Marketing or its sister companies Richards Pharma, Richards Services and Warwick Healthcare Solutions.

The new incident will strengthen concerns about the use of complex global supply chains for drugs, the security of high-cost cancer drugs and the economic incentives for clinicians to sidestep procurement regulations.

Nycomed, a Takeda company, has appointed Jostein Davidsen as its new Head of Emerging Markets.

Mr Davidsen will take on the post in addition to his current role as Area Head of Russia/CIS, reporting to Frank Morich, EVP, International Operations at Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, and CEO of Nycomed.

“Jostein's strong track record of leading Russia/CIS over the past 17 years makes him an ideal candidate for this position,” said Mr Morich.

“His extensive knowledge of the industry, combined with vision and tenacity, has propelled Russia/CIS to become one of Nycomed's top revenue contributors.”

Takeda’s acquisition of Nycomed in September 2011 was driven by Nycomed’s presence in Emerging Markets in Russia/CIS, Latin America, Middle East-Turkey-Africa and South Asia.

Takeda is a research-based global company with a main focus on pharmaceuticals. The combined company has an active commercial presence in the therapeutic areas of metabolic diseases, gastroenterology, oncology, cardiovascular health, CNS diseases, inflammatory and immune disorders, respiratory diseases and pain management.

Lundbeck has appointed Marie-Laure Pochon as its new Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations and slim lined its Executive Management Group in the process.

The new EVP has joined the Group after “realising high growth” as the Chief Executive of Lundbeck France and the Regional Vice President for France, Belgium, UK, Spain, Italy, Turkey & Germany.

Ulf Wiinberg, President and CEO, says he is “very pleased that Marie-Laure Pochon is joining Lundbeck’s Executive Management Group, where she can contribute with her strong commercial experience from a long career in the pharmaceutical industry”.

The company says it will “execute on many new opportunities” to implement its strategy and secure long-term growth and will reduce its Executive Management from six to four members in order to do so.

Peter Høngaard Andersen will now exit the Executive Management, but continue as part of Lundbeck’s corporate management team as Senior Vice President, External Scientific Relations & Patents.

Lars Bang will also leave the Group, but continue his role as Senior Vice President, Supply Operations & Engineering, leading Lundbeck’s global supply chain.

As a result, Anders Götzsche, Executive Vice President, CFO, Anders Gersel Pedersen, Executive Vice President, R&D, plus Ulf Wiinberg and Marie-Laure Pochon, now complete the Group.