DKSH pushes 'market expansion services' for life sciences in Asia

Zurich-headquartered DKSH, whose roots in Asia go back over a century, has announced a series of acquisitions and business agreements in the past few months, expanding into additional areas in South Asia. These include the acquisition of a South Korean medical devices distributor, Miraecare; and representative agreements to distribute aesthetic products of Germany’s Merz Pharma, in Malaysia, and to provide local distribution in East Malaysia for a local company called Advance Pharma.

DKSH’s range of services is unusual. In addition to providing basic import/export services, the company is prepared to assist in obtaining governmental registrations for new products, to conduct market research, to provide regulatory compliance services and to manage invoicing and cash collection. The company’s Healthcare Business Unit (which represents around 40% of its overall sales) has 150 business locations in 13 countries and more than 8,000 employees. Having gone through a public offering a year ago (the company’s stock is traded on the Swiss exchange), it now hopes to be well positioned to serve a growing healthcare products market in South Asia. “As European and US markets continue facing challenges, western companies are seeking opportunities to expand into new markets and there is growing demand for market entries into Asia, given the sustainably high growth rates in this region,” commented Joerg Wolle, CEO, last year, adding that, “Today, the majority of manufacturers of the products DKSH distributes are still from Europe and the Americas. But a growing number are now also coming from within Asia.”