On July 8, 2010 Lithuanian-domiciled Central and Eastern European (CEE) specialty pharmaceutical company Sanitas, AB sold its 100% shareholding in subsidiary HBM Pharma s.r.o in Slovakia to Latvian company Liplats 2000, SIA. HBM Pharma was primarily engaged in toll manufacturing activities and the entity has been sold with all of its existing toll manufacturing contracts. As previously announced, sales, marketing and regulatory divisions in Slovakia and the Czech Republic were separated from HBM Pharma and retained in Sanitas Group prior to the divestment.
Sanitas acquired HBM Pharma (previously named Hoechst Biotika) from Sanofi Aventis in July 2005. The entity was integrated into Sanitas Group as a manufacturing unit and a hub to start sales and marketing activities in neighboring countries.
This divestment will allow Sanitas to optimize its manufacturing capacity, while freeing resources to reduce leverage, focus on its own product portfolio and continue its roll-out of new branded generic pharmaceuticals in its focus therapeutic niches.