Northern Ireland-based, globally focused pharmaceutical sales and marketing firm Galen has acquired Swedish-headquartered POA Pharma in a multi-million pound takeover agreement.

This allows Galen to expand its global footprint further into Scandinavia and Northern Europe. POA Pharma has offices and facilities in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

It will also broaden the company’s product portfolio into new therapeutic areas, such as metabolic disease. Galen currently has products in areas of gastroenterology, urology, women’s health, pain management and mental health.

POA Pharma has a strong portfolio of food-based medicines to help prevent and treat metabolic disease, including rare conditions, such as phenylketonuria (PKU). These medical nutritional offerings are the primary products the company currently exports globally; metabolic disease is POA Pharma’s primary competency in the US portion of its business.

This deal builds upon a distribution agreement regarding metabolic products sales in the UK and Ireland, which was signed between the two companies in April 2016.

As a result of the acquisition, Galen’s Simon Lawrence has been appointed Commercial Director of the Nordics and will be based at the POA facility in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Lawrence commented: "Galen’s long-heritage and expertise in delivering valued medicines to the people that need them most, coupled with POA Pharma’s important portfolio, means we now have the opportunity to improve the lives of more people affected by a variety of diseases on a truly global scale.

Particularly for the underserved, rare PKU population, who have limited treatment options available to them, today’s completion is a welcome step towards better access to life-saving nutritional therapies across Galen’s extensive distribution network and beyond."

Galen president and managing director Dr Dennise Broderick added: "The founders of POA have created a highly successful business and we look forward to incorporating and growing the reputable company further as part of the Galen organisation.

"This acquisition will enable Galen to offer a wider range of products to our customers, healthcare professionals and patients around the world."

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