The Medical House takeover approach likely to be from rival

THE takeover approach received by Yorkshire group The Medical House is likely to have been made by one of its international competitors rather than one of the pharmaceutical groups it supplies, according to industry sources.

The Sheffield-based group which specialises in needle-free injection kits, announced this week that it has had a takeover approach from an unnamed group which saw its shares increase by more than 80%.

While a bid approach last year for TMH came to nothing, sources close to the company say that the latest offer is “very serious” and industry sources say it is likely to come from a rival medical group looking to capitalise on the technology developed by the Yorkshire firm which is best known for its disposable autoinjector technology that allows patients to inject themselves.

Early speculation suggested that it might be from one of the groups that The Medical House supplies such Belgian group UCB Pharma, German giant Merck Serono and Indian company Dr Reddy’s.

But industry sources suggest it might be a competitor rather than a pharmaceutical group.

“It is unlikely that this takeover approach would come from a pharma group because that would mean that they then would have to deal with other pharma companies as customers.

“But if you look at the sector, new drug delivery systems for rheumatoid arthritis from Amgen and Abbot Laboratories in the USA are predicted to generate sales of $8bn a year plus there are markets for autoinjectors for emergency therapies such as adrenalin – it’s a hot sector.

“So the betting is that the offer is likely to come from another medical device company,” said the source.

TMH’s rivals in the sector include US groups Antares Pharma, Becton Dickinson and Meridian Medical Technologies and German groups Haselmeier, Owen Mumford and Scandinavian Health.