Pharmacy group in search for identity

More than ten unnamed consultancies are being interviewed to create the corporate identity for the newly merged global pharmaceuticals company Pharmacia et Upjohn.

Scandinavian drugs group Pharmacia and US company Upjohn will become a merged, listed company on 8 November, making it the ninth-ranked pharmaceuticals group in the world. The new identity will be revealed by the end of the year.

“We need to build a new identity based on the flavours of the companies and their ambition for the future,” comments a spokesman for Pharmacia, which was approached by “hundreds of companies from all over the world” to design the new logo.

Meanwhile, Norwegian drugs company Hafslund Nycomed is set to merge with Miami-based Ivax to create Ivax Nycomed. The deal is expected to be sealed in the first quarter of next year, according to a spokesman for the Norway group.

It is too early to say what the new company plans to do about a new corporate identity, the spokesman adds.