Chiron pays entry fee to Germany

Chiron Corp. moved to build a marketing presence in the German vaccine market, agreeing to acquire 49 percent of the human vaccine business of Behringwerke AG for DM171.5 million ($120 million) in cash.

CHIR's interest in the deal was based on Behringwerke's presence in Germany, the largest single European vaccine market, and not on the Marburg, Germany, company's product pipeline. "They don't have a big product pipeline," said CHIR spokesperson Larry Kurtz. "With the exception of a couple of niche vaccines, their product line is mostly conventional pediatric vaccines. We sell the same vaccines in Italy, with the exception of the rabies and tick-borne encephalitis vaccines."...