Luye Pharma Acquires Global Rights to Bayer's Contraceptive Transdermal Patch Apleek

Following the successful acquisition of the global business for AstraZeneca’s flagship product, Seroquel and its extended-release tablets, across 51 countries and regions in the first half of this year, Luye Pharma has once again taken action by acquiring the global business for Bayer’s contraceptive transdermal patch, Apleek. This move further validates Luye Pharma’s strategic layout capabilities and execution strength in its internationalization strategy.

On August 6, Luye Pharma issued an announcement stating that its subsidiaries in Germany and Switzerland, Luye Pharma AG and Luye Supply AG, had signed an agreement with Bayer AG to acquire the global business of Bayer’s contraceptive transdermal patch product, Apleek. Apleek is a seven-day contraceptive patch combining ethinyl estradiol and gestodene, jointly developed by Bayer and Luye Pharma. Apleek will be manufactured at Luye Pharma’s dedicated European production facility for hormonal patches.

Under the agreement, the assets involved in this acquisition include Apleek’s global patent licenses and marketing authorizations, drug registration information, trademark rights, domain names, related commercial materials, relevant data, and other intellectual property rights. It has been reported that the drug has already been approved in countries such as Switzerland and has secured multiple patents in numerous countries and regions worldwide, including the United States, Europe, China, and Japan.

Public awareness of various contraceptive methods is continuously rising, leading to a growing number of individuals choosing contraception. According to GBI Research data, the global contraceptive market has reached a total sales value of $11.8 billion and continues to maintain steady growth, with demand predominantly driven by countries and regions such as the United States, the European Union, and Japan. Currently, common contraceptive methods include oral contraceptives, contraceptive patches, condoms, and intrauterine devices (IUDs). Among these, contraceptive patches offer greater convenience, thereby gaining increasing popularity and recognition among consumers. Taking the United States as an example: in 2017, the total sales of the U.S. contraceptive market reached $5.5 billion, with a growth rate of 3%. This growth was primarily driven by products such as contraceptive patches and medicated IUDs. Notably, contraceptive patches achieved a remarkable growth rate of 12%, indicating broad market prospects.

The Apleek transdermal patch acquired in this transaction contains two hormones, ethinyl estradiol and gestodene, and has fewer side effects. Luye Pharma is highly optimistic about the future potential and development of Apleek and plans to launch the product sequentially in markets with significant demand, including the United States, Europe, China, Japan, and other regions worldwide.

On June 22, shortly prior to this, Luye Pharma held an “International Cooperation Strategy Launch Event” in Hong Kong, announcing that it would carry out “whole-industry-chain” international cooperation centered around three strategic business areas: global R&D, global manufacturing, and global markets, so as to ensure the achievement of its strategic goal of “breaking into the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies by 2025.” At present, Luye Pharma’s internationalization strategy is being vigorously advanced with full effort; its high-efficiency execution continues to reset industry benchmarks, and its product portfolio and market performance in the global market over the next few years are highly anticipated.

Luye Pharma has currently reached an internationally advanced level in the research and development of novel formulation technologies, including microspheres, liposomes, and transdermal drug delivery systems. The addition of Apleek will further expand Luye Pharma’s existing portfolio of transdermal formulations, strengthen its capabilities and global leadership in the transdermal platform, and facilitate the company’s penetration into more international markets. Currently, Luye Pharma is actively pursuing its strategic development goals through a strategy of global synergistic growth and accelerated product pipeline development.

Luye Pharma AG, a subsidiary of Luye Pharma, is one of the largest manufacturers of transdermal delivery systems (TDS) in Europe. The company specializes in developing complex specialty transdermal patch medications for the central nervous system, pain management, and hormonal therapies. It has successfully commercialized several products with high technical barriers to production, such as rivastigmine, buprenorphine, fentanyl, and contraceptive patches. Rivastigmine once-daily transdermal patch is one of Luye Pharma AG’s core products, used for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. This product accounted for as much as 44% of sales in the U.S. transdermal patch market in 2017. In addition to its existing portfolio, Luye Pharma AG has multiple transdermal patch drugs at various stages of clinical development in its pipeline, including a multi-day rivastigmine transdermal patch and a seven-day buprenorphine transdermal patch. These new drugs are making good progress in registration across major international markets, including China, the United States, Europe, and Japan, and are expected to be launched in these countries and regions before expanding further into additional global markets.