Source: Lotus Pharmaceuticals

• Lotus’s Board of Directors approves the asset acquisition of Lilly’s Cialis® including the trademark, marketing authorization, and manufacturing know-how for the territory of Taiwan for US$57.5 million.
• Cialis® is the 2nd largest brand by revenue in Taiwan indicated for erectile dysfunction with very high brand loyalty.
• The acquisition will accelerate Lotus’s growth and sets a very strong foundation for entry in the high growth drugstore channel.

Lotus Pharmaceuticals (1795:TT), a multinational pharmaceutical company, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved to acquire the trademark, marketing authorization, and manufacturing know-how of Tadalafil 2.5mg, 5mg, 10mg and 20mg under the brand name of Cialis® in Taiwan for US$57.5 million from Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”). Immediately upon closing the transaction, the Company will take over the Cialis® business. The completion of this transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Tadalafil is indicated for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and benign prostatic hyperplasia, and Cialis® is positioned as the top 2 brand product for erectile dysfunction treatment with high brand loyalty. According to IQVIA data, the total sales of Cialis® in Taiwan for the last 12 months as of December 31, 2021 were approximately US$15.7 million. The Company believes the majority of Cialis sales are driven by drugstore channel.

The overall pharmaceutical market in Taiwan reached around US$8.0 billion in 2021, a 4% growth compared to the previous year. Among all the 3 distribution channels including hospitals and clinics, the drugstores channel accounted for 13.6% of the whole market in 2021 and was the only segment delivering over a 10% annual growth for the past 3 consecutive years. By adding the leading brand product into the portfolio, the Company expects it will expand its drugstore coverage from 1,500 to 2,500 by the year of 2025 and further accelerate the growth of its existing OTC portfolio.

Petar Vazharov, Chief Executive Officer of Lotus, said: “Brand acquisitions are important pillar in Lotus growth strategy since 2016 with Mercilon for Korean market being the first deal, followed by Aclasta and Evista for selective markets in Asia. The acquisition of a leading lifestyle brand as Cialis® supports our strategy to gain more critical mass in Taiwan pharmaceutical market and enhances our penetration into the high growth drug store channel. It will also create greater scale and diversity across our portfolio and sales channels.”