Merck and Simcere sign agreement to establish pioneering China joint venture

Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J., (NYSE:MRK), acting through an affiliate and known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and China’s Simcere Pharmaceutical Group (NYSE:SCR, Simcere) today announced the signing of a framework agreement to establish a joint venture focused on serving China’s rapidly expanding health care needs by providing significantly improved access to quality medicines in major therapeutic areas.

The companies announced the partnership at a signing ceremony at Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, N.J. with Mr. Richard T. Clark, Merck chairman, Mr. Adam Schechter, president, Merck Global Human Health, Mr. Michel Vounatsos, president, MSD in China, Mr. Jinsheng Ren, chairman and CEO of Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, and Dr. Yehong Zhang, president, Simcere Pharmaceutical Group.

Mr. Zhijun Luo, secretary of China’s Jiangsu Provincial Committee, presided over the signing ceremony.

This novel and innovative partnership will combine the extensive resources and expertise of a global health care company and a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company in support of Merck and Simcere’s goal of building a strategic partnership with development, registration, manufacturing and sales capabilities. The initial focus of the partnership will be branded pharmaceutical products for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Specifically, in the area of cardiovascular disease, the partnership will offer a combined portfolio of selected medicines from both companies, including ZOCOR® (simvastatin), COZAAR® (losartan) and RENITEC® (enalapril) by Merck/MSD, and XINTA (levamlodipine) and SHUFUTAN (rosuvastatin) by Simcere. In the metabolic disease area, the partnership will work to maximize access in China to sitagliptin, a DPP-IV inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is increasingly recognized as a significant public health threat in China.

Merck is proud to partner with Simcere, one of China’s leading pharmaceutical companies and an organization that shares Merck’s commitment to enhancing health care in China,” said Mr. Schechter. “This partnership is another step forward in Merck’s strategy to grow our business in China and is fully aligned with the Chinese government’s goal to increase access to quality products.”

“Today marks another key milestone in Simcere’s ongoing quest to better the lives of our patients through innovative medicines,” said Mr. Ren. This innovative partnership seeks to address the enormous challenges of the Chinese healthcare system and address the needs of Chinese patients and health care stakeholders.”

“This partnership between Simcere and Merck is not only strategically significant for both organizations, but also a landmark event for Jiangsu’s biopharmaceutical industry,” said Mr. Luo. “Biopharmaceuticals is an emerging industry of strategic importance for Jiangsu Province and this partnership will bring additional momentum to the development of this industry. It will help Jiangsu in providing more quality pharmaceuticals to China and the world.”

The establishment of this joint venture is subject to satisfying certain agreed to closing conditions.