Nycomed sees its drugs in-licenced - report

FRANKFURT, April 29 (Reuters) - Danish drugmaker Nycomed expects most of its drugs to be in-licenced after patents for its bestselling drug Pantoprazole expire in 2009 and 2010, its chief executive told German magazine WirtschaftsWoche.

"At Nycomed we will in-licence at least 60 percent of our products from other firms in future," Hakan Bjorklund told the business weekly in an interview released on Sunday ahead of publication on Monday.

Nycomed, which is owned by a consortium of investors, bought the drugs arm of German chemicals group Altana (ALTG.DE) last year for 4.5 billion euros ($6.13 billion).

Bjorklund said he could imaging Nycomed's making further acquisitions, "but probably not of Altana's size".

He added that Nycomed would now reconsider which therapy areas to concentrate on. He said a decision should be taken in the next six months.

"We will have to consider whether to exit present therapeutic areas and in turn invest in other areas," he said.

Nycomed currently focuses on cardiology, gastroenterology, osteoporosis and tissue management drugs.

((Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Erica Billingham; Frankfurt newsroom +4969 7565 1265; georgina.prodhan@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: georgina.prodhan.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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