STADA and Sanofi have entered into a distribution agreement whereby STADA will distribute and market Sanofi’s portfolio of well-established consumer healthcare brands, scheduled to start from November 2021, in 20 countries across Europe. Countries covered by the agreement include the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, as well as the Netherlands, Ireland, Malta and Bulgaria. Also included are the Baltic States Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, plus Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia in the Balkans and Adriatic region.

The agreement covers approximately 50 well-established consumer healthcare brands currently marketed by Sanofi in these territories. These include Allegra, Bisolvon, Dulcolax and Essentiale Forte N in therapeutic categories such as allergy, cough & cold, dermatology and digestive health, as well as pain relief and vitamins, minerals and supplements.

STADA will distribute these brands in the 20 markets covered by the distribution deal, leveraging its strong commercial footprint in these countries.

The distribution agreement comes shortly after the announcement of a separate transaction whereby STADA is acquiring 16 well-established brands from Sanofi in European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain[1].

Explaining the appeal of the latest agreement with STADA, Sanofi’s Head of Consumer Healthcare GBU for Europe, Paul Martingell, explained: “This long-term, strategic agreement is another important step on our Sanofi Consumer Healthcare journey, under our strategic pillar of ‘cutting & embracing complexity’; allowing us to further increase focus in our Must Win and Stronghold geographies and brands.

For the countries under this agreement, we are delighted that the commercial reach and footprint of STADA will allow us to continue to build even stronger brands and ensure access to our trusted portfolio of brands to consumers and are confident that this collaboration will be a win-win for both our companies and the health and wellness of consumers in these markets.”

STADA’s Global Head of Consumer Healthcare, Volker Sydow, commented:

This broad marketing and distribution agreement with Sanofi serves as further evidence that STADA is increasingly a go-to-partner for consumer healthcare in Europe. With STADA’s strategic consumer healthcare focus on local hero brands, we are confident that we can provide the right level of support, commitment and agility to grow these brands to the next level.

“STADA’s strategy has consumer healthcare playing a central role alongside prescription generics and specialty pharmaceuticals,” Sydow explained. “STADA is already a top-five consumer healthcare player in Europe by sales. And we are strengthening our position through a combination of organic expansion through line extensions and brand launches in additional markets, as well as inorganic business-development deals such as the recent acquisitions of Walmark and a portfolio of selected consumer healthcare brands from GlaxoSmithKline last year.”