Stada wants to overtake Bayer in over-the-counter medicines

Frankfurt The pharmaceutical group Stada wants to become one of the leading European providers in the business with over-the-counter health products. “We are now number four in Europe in the consumer health business, and we believe that we can overtake Bayer in Europe this year,” said company boss Peter Goldschmidt to the Handelsblatt.

The group from Bad Vilbel, which has been owned by the private equity firms Bain and Cinven since 2017, is represented in this area with brands such as the cold medicine Grippostat, the muscle ointment Mobilat and the sun protection product Ladival. In 2022, the division grew nominally by 26 percent and currency-adjusted by 17 percent to 1.6 billion euros in sales. It thus advanced to become the largest division of Stada for the first time, ahead of the generics business (prescription copycat drugs) and the specialty pharmaceuticals division (biosimilars, Parkinson’s drugs, etc.).