Sinopharm and Merck to Form JV    

The Merck Group and Sinopharm (China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation) announced on July 27th the signing of a statement of mutual intent. Under the statement, Sinopharm and Merck will cooperate on HPV vaccine and other mutually-selected vaccine products in China, and will also discuss the potential for promoting and marketing Merck's pharmaceutical products in China.
   The drug giant Merck expects to establish a joint venture with Sinopharm, one of the top three pharmaceutical companies in China. As per the deal, the companies will jointly market Merck's cervical cancer vaccine and other vaccines in China. This is the first such deal Merck has struck in China.
   Merck reported earlier this year that that it already had an increase of 90% in China sales.