GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.LSE) has agreed to buy Nanjing MeiRui Pharma for US$70 million in cash from current stakeholders Pagoda Pharmaceutical and Allergon, Bloomberg reported. The UK-based drugmaker is trying to expand its presence in what is expected to be the world’s second-largest drug market in a few years. Western pharmaceutical firms are particularly targeting developing markets to offset the effects of expiring patents in their home markets. Nanjing MeiRui Pharma’s product line is led by a treatment for enlarged prostate and overactive bladder syndrome, and it has 22 more products in the pipeline, including cancer diagnostics. GlaxoSmithKline will gain control of all the company’s products, sales and marketing staff, and its manufacturing facility in Nanjing.
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