On August 6, 2018, STADA Arzneimittel AG (“STADA”) announced that it had acquired a majority stake in BIOCEUTICALS Arzneimittel AG (“BIOCEUTICALS”).  According to the press release, STADA is acquiring an additional 35.48 percent of the shares in BIOCEUTICALS  from its co-shareholders to bring its total stake to 51.34 percent.  BIOCEUTICALS licenses marketing rights to the epoetin biosimilar, epoetin zeta, to STADA and other companies.  The press release notes that STADA markets the epoetin biosimilar, Silapo, in Germany. BIOCEUTICALS also licenses epoetin zeta to Hospira which sells it under the tradename Retacrit in various countries.  As we reported here, Hospira was recently granted approval for Retacrit (epoetin alfa) in the United States.