Summary
How attractive is Solvay’s Pharmaceuticals sector ? Sanofi clearly believes Solvay is worth a bid. But in terms of its current product range, in 2008 Solvay only had one product, Fenofibrate, selling over €0.5 billion (€511 million in 2008), and one other, Androgel, over €200 million. Its products would scarcely be large enough to make an impact when subsumed within a major pharmaceutical company of the size of Sanofi Aventis. What about Solvay's R & D pipeline ? There may be 10 projects in the Phase III pipeline but the proportion accounted for by NCEs capable of being developed into major new products is limited.
Analysis
Solvay has had difficulty ever since it started to build up its pharmaceutical activities nearly 30 years ago in bringing significant novel products to the market.
Despite this, Pharmaceuticals remains Solvay Group biggest sector in terms of sales and profit – so what would its future be without pharmaceuticals ? The answer could be simple consolidation in which Solvay maintains some degree of control. A merger with a company having a similar philosophy, the closest example of which is fellow Belgian chemical and pharmaceutical group UCB, could be a more attractive outcome for Solvay.
