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Article: German drug firm enters Sweden as monopoly ends
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- July 1, 2009
- Author:
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German pharmaceutical group Celesio AG plans to open more than 100 pharmacies in Sweden, the company said Wednesday as Sweden's nearly 40-year-long state monopoly on drug sales came to an end.
The company said it will enter the Swedish market as an entirely new chain and won't buy any of the state-owned Apoteket stores that are being sold off by the Swedish government.
It said it will use its experience from establishing a drug chain in Norway to gradually build up its presence in Sweden. It said several contracts for new store openings have already been signed.
The Swedish parliament in April decided to deregulate the pharmacy market starting July 1. Breaking the ...