A ceremony to celebrate the Bayer-Dihon collaboration was held on Nov 17 in the city of Kunming, Yunnan province. The German-based pharmaceutical company completed its 100-percent acquisition of Dihon Pharmaceutical Co in Kunming Hi-Tech Zone for 3.6 million yuan ($587 million).

Heads of Bayer, Dihon and Kunming’s government gather at a ceremony to celebrate the Bayer-Dihon collaboration in Kunming, Yunnan province on Nov 17. [Photo/kmhnz.gov.cn]

At the ceremony, Erica Mann, global president of Bayer’s consumer care division, said that the day was very significant for Bayer. “By bringing Dihon into the Bayer family, we will greatly enhance our ability to provide consumers with a very broad range of self-care options,” she said. She added that Bayer would continue to invest in the Dihon business and in Yunnan, pay special attention to local human resource development and technological innovation.

The chairman of Dihon and a senior consultant of Bayer’s consumer care division, Guo Zhenyu, listed the reasons why Dihon had decided to join Bayer. First, it had rich experience in R&D of German herbal medicines, which was helpful for Chinese traditional medicine’s internationalization. Second, Bayer’s leading position in the pharmaceutical industry could provide Dihon and Yunnan with more opportunities. Third, the two enterprises shared common views on health supplements and OTC health treatments, which became the foundation of their collaboration.

Erica Mann (left) and Wang Minzheng discuss further cooperation. [Photo/kmhnz.gov.cn]

Bai Huiliang, honorary chairman of the China Nonprescription Medicines Association, commented favorably at the ceremony on the Bayer-Dihon collaboration, saying that the alliance between the two would promote the integration of medical and pharmaceutical knowledge and leading technologies, and therefore boost the development of OTC treatments.

“Yunnan has vast natural resources and commitment to the pharmaceutical industry, which makes the province an ideal place for new drugs and TCM development. Also, the Kunming Hi-Tech Zone promises to provide Bayer with superior services and spare no efforts to make a perfect development environment,” said Wang Minzheng, director of the administrative committee of the Kunming Hi-Tech Zone, in which Dihon had been located since its foundation in 1997.

Wang Minzheng gives his congratulations on the Bayer-Dihon alliance. [Photo/kmhnz.gov.cn]

Dihon specializes in over-the-counter skin products and herbal traditional Chinese medicine products for women, and its annual sales for 2013 exceeded 940 million yuan.

By Shi Zihan and edited by Brian Salter