Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
A bargain that paid off: Perrigo's ~$2.1B all-cash buy of HRA Pharma delivered Compeed, ellaOne, and Mederma, then hit its signature win when Opill became the first OTC daily oral contraceptive approved in the US on July 13, 2023 — though Perrigo later shed the Rare Diseases unit to Esteve for up to EUR 275M.
Outcome grade pending — assessed 5 years post-close.
Full analysis, sources & comparables →Perrigo Company plc agreed to buy France-based HRA Pharma from Astorg and Goldman Sachs Asset Management for 1.8 billion euros, expanding the Irish company's…
Perrigo announced a $2.1 billion deal to acquire France's HRA Pharma, picking up category-leading consumer health brands ellaOne, Compeed and Mederma. The…
Perrigo completed divestment of the HRA Pharma Rare Diseases business to Esteve Healthcare for up to EUR275M (EUR190M upfront + up to EUR85M earnout); RD unit…
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Perrigo acquired HRA Pharma from Astorg Partners and Goldman Sachs Asset Management for EUR 1.8B (~$2.1B) cash, announced September 8, 2021 and closed April 29, 2022, expanding its consumer self-care platform with category-leading brands including Compeed (blister care), ellaOne (women's health) and Mederma (scar care). Post-close, the women's-health franchise delivered the deal's signature value event: on July 13, 2023 the FDA approved Opill, the first-ever OTC daily oral contraceptive in the US (all ages), which began broad retail and online distribution in Q1 2024. In a portfolio refinement, Perrigo divested the non-core HRA Pharma Rare Diseases business to Esteve Healthcare on July 10, 2024 for up to EUR 275M (EUR 190M upfront plus up to EUR 85M in earnouts; the unit posted ~EUR 50M 2023 net sales / ~EUR 20M adj. EBITDA), redeploying proceeds to debt repayment while retaining the core consumer self-care brands. The deal thesis — building Perrigo's branded consumer self-care platform around women's health and adjacent OTC categories — holds and was validated by the Opill launch.
40M US cases/yr · $150.0B Global consumer self-care / OTC market 2021 (USD MM) · 40000 US OTC market 2021 (USD MM)
Consumer self-care covers OTC and category-leading consumer healthcare brands across women's health, dermatology, oral care, and minor conditions, representing the largest non-prescription healthcare segment globally. The US OTC market alone exceeds $40 billion annually with the global OTC and consumer health market exceeding $150 billion in 2021 per Nicholas Hall and Euromonitor estimates. Within women's health, emergency contraception is a roughly $300-400 million global category historically dominated by levonorgestrel-based products (Plan B One-Step) with ulipristal acetate (ellaOne / ella) representing the second-line, longer-window (up to 120 hours post-coital) prescription-to-OTC switching opportunity. Blister and wound care is a roughly $1 billion global category led by Compeed (hydrocolloid blister technology, originally Coloplast). Scar care is a roughly $700 million global category led by Mederma (allium cepa-based topical), Kelo-Cote, Bio-Oil and ScarAway. Perrigo's strategic thesis was to consolidate three category-leading consumer self-care brands at scale to anchor a CHC-focused pure-play after the December 2018 sale of its prescription Rx business to Altaris and exit from prescription pharmaceuticals.
The consumer self-care competitive landscape spans pure-play CHC majors and Big Pharma OTC arms. Pure-play / CHC-focused: Haleon (GSK Consumer Healthcare spin from GSK 2022, includes Sensodyne, Voltaren OTC, Centrum, Advil OTC), Kenvue (J&J Consumer Health spin 2023, Tylenol, Listerine, Neutrogena, Aveeno), Perrigo Company plc (US store-brand OTC, ScarAway, ellaOne post-2022, Compeed post-2022), Bayer Consumer Health (Aleve, Aspirin, Bepanthen, Berocca, MiraLAX), Reckitt Benckiser (Mucinex, Strepsils, Nurofen, Durex). Specialty consumer health: Sanofi Consumer Healthcare (Allegra OTC, Dulcolax, Doliprane), Procter & Gamble Health (Vicks, Pepto-Bismol, Metamucil), Church & Dwight (Vitafusion, Trojan), Prestige Consumer Healthcare (Monistat, Compound W, Dramamine). Emergency contraception specifically: Foundation Consumer Healthcare (Plan B One-Step, owns levonorgestrel franchise post-2017), HRA/Perrigo (ellaOne ulipristal acetate), generic levonorgestrel manufacturers (Lupin, Aurobindo, Teva). Scar care: GlaxoSmithKline (no longer in scar), Sinclair Pharma (Kelo-Cote), Bio-Oil Holdings (Bio-Oil). Blister care: Coloplast historically owned Compeed before HRA acquisition; Johnson & Johnson Band-Aid is the broader wound-care category leader.
The HRA women's-health franchise produced Opill (norgestrel 0.075mg), FDA-approved July 13, 2023 for OTC use without age restriction — the first-ever nonprescription daily birth control pill in the US; broad retail/online launch Q1 2024. Validates the consumer self-care deal thesis.
Portfolio refinement of the 2022 HRA acquisition: Perrigo completed sale of the non-core HRA Pharma Rare Diseases business to Esteve Healthcare on July 10, 2024 for up to EUR275M (EUR190M upfront + up to EUR85M earnout). RD unit 2023 net sales ~EUR50M / adj. EBITDA ~EUR20M; proceeds redeployed to debt repayment. Core consumer self-care brands retained.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perrigo Company plc / HRA Pharma (this deal) | 2021 | $2.1B | — |
| Perrigo Company plc / Elan Corporation plc | 2013 | $8.6B | 32 |
| Sumitovant Biopharma / Myovant Sciences Ltd. | 2022 | $1.7B | 60 |
| Astellas Pharma Inc. / Ogeda SA | 2017 | $850M | 59 |
| Mylan Inc. / Famy Care Limited (women's healthcare businesses) | 2015 | $800M | 56 |
| Watson Pharmaceuticals (Actavis Inc.) / Uteron Pharma SA | 2013 | $305M | 16 |
| Organon & Co. / Forendo Pharma | 2021 | $954M | — |
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