Private label manufacturer Perrigo may become a branded OTC player in the U.S. market

NEW YORK — With its acquisition of the European branded over-the-counter player Omega Pharma, Perrigo may one day expand into the branded side of the U.S. OTC business, Joseph Papa, Perrigo president, chairman and CEO, told analysts Thursday morning. 

 

"Do I believe there are going to be branded opportunities for us not just in Europe? The answer is yes," Papa said. 

 

Sooner though, Perrigo will be taking OTC products already manufactured in the U.S., and introducing them as branded line extensions in Europe. "The near term for us is really focused on saying we have 3,000 products at Perrigo. Which of these products can I bring to Europe and offer to the Omega team, have a product line extension of some of their great No. 1 leading brands and launch a product line extension into the European platform?" Papa asked. "There's already a number of those that will be very exciting opportunities to align some brands," he said. "There is a true opportunity to bring our Perrigo product family into Europe and bring some of those European Omega brands into some of the markets in which Perrigo already has operations like the U.S, Mexico, Australia, et cetera."

 

Regarding Perrigo's entry into the European market, Omega provides Perrigo instant access to a broad retail base, including 211,000 pharmacists, 105,000 retail stores and 3,900 parapharmacies, Papa said. "We will now be able to participate in the attractive $30 billion European OTC market, leveraging Omega’s commercial infrastructure and leading OTC product portfolio to generate consistent growth, as Omega has done since its founding in 1987."