Turkey: Abdi Ibrahim buys 28.5% of Swiss OM Pharma

ANKARA (AA) - Leading Turkish pharmaceutical Abdi Ibrahim on Friday announced it had bought 28.5% of the shares of Swiss-based biotech company OM Pharma for 4.2 billion liras ($530 million).

According to a company statement, the acquisition made Abdi Ibrahim the first and only Turkish pharmaceutical to form a strategic partnership with a European counterpart.

"The partnership, and especially our biotech products, will facilitate our access to new markets, particularly Latin America, China, and the US," said Nezih Barut, the company chairman.

Likewise, OM Pharma, he added, will now have easier access to the Middle East and North Africa, where Abdi Ibrahim enjoys a significant presence.

- $275M to develop biotech drugs

He pointed to biotechnology as one of the key motivators for the company entering the partnership.

"We have claimed time and time again that biotechnology would be the main driver of pharmaceuticals, and called for our country to get on this ship before it sails," he said.

In the days to come, he added, the company is looking to allocate a significant R&D budget of 250 million Swiss francs (about $275 million) in OM Pharma, which will be used to develop biotech drugs and for clinical trials.

"This is an exciting development for us that will also support our strategy to fuel our growth and enhance our company’s value," he stressed.

Turkish industry, he concluded, with its strong human resources, production experience, and entrepreneurial capacity, has the potential to make a difference in the world, not only in pharmaceuticals, but across all fields.

Abdi Ibrahim, Turkey’s leading pharmaceutical, started as a neighborhood pharmacy in 1912 and began operating its first factory in 1919.