Vertical Pharmaceuticals, a portfolio company of Avista Capital Partners (through Vertical/Trigen Holdings) has acquired the rights to three branded women’s health products from Upsher-Smith Laboratories. Avista acquired a majority interest in Vertical/Trigen Holdings in December 2013.
“This is a positive first step in our strategy to expand the Vertical/Trigen platform through add-on acquisitions,” said Brian Markison, Executive Chairman of Vertical/Trigen and Healthcare Industry Executive of Avista. “We will continue to pursue additional opportunities to acquire complementary assets in order to broaden our portfolio of high-quality products and accelerate the company’s growth.”
The acquired products include: Divigel (an estrogen hormone gel) 0.1%; Nexa Plus, a branded line of prenatal vitamins; and Provella, a women’s health focused probiotic dietary supplement. As part of the transaction, Upsher-Smith has transferred the New Drug Application (NDA) for Divigel® to Vertical Pharmaceuticals.
“We are very excited to be expanding our position in the growing field of women’s health,” said Steven Squashic, CEO of Vertical/Trigen. “With these additions to our portfolio, we will be able to drive efficiencies through enhanced scale and further optimize our commercial infrastructure. We are confident that our highly experienced women’s health sales force will enable us to reach more patients and caregivers with these products.”
Vertical/Trigen is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the development, marketing, and distribution of both branded and generic prescription pharmaceuticals in the United States. Vertical, the segment of the company focused on branded pharmaceuticals, specializes in women’s health, pain management, and respiratory and allergy medications. Its brands include OB Complete, Corvite, ConZip, and Lorzone and are marketed by a dedicated national sales force. Trigen, the generic pharmaceutical arm of the company, markets over 70 formulations in the prenatal, hematinic (iron) supplement, and cough/cold remedy markets. The company is based in Sayreville, NJ (www.verticalpharma.com) (www.trigenlab.com).
Avista Capital Partners, with over $6 billion of capital under management, makes control or influential minority investments in growth-oriented energy, healthcare, communications & media, industrials, and consumer businesses. The firm was founded in 2005 and is based in New York with offices in Houston and London (www.avistacap.com).
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-25-14
