The CardioMetabolic Care and General Medicine business unit comprises our drugs for treating diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and thyroid disorders, as well as other globally and regionally marketed products. Sales increased by 1.8% to € 1,976 million. Adjusted for the sales of our Théramex subsidiary, which we divested in 2010, growth amounted to 6.5%. We continued to grow especially in emerging markets by making full use of our medical expertise in conducting intensive life-cycle management programs for our products. In this way we were also able to limit the effects of generic competition in mature markets.
The branded Concor® products such as Concor®COR and Lodoz®, which contain the active ingredient bisoprolol, achieved sales of € 397 million, which was 6.4% more than in 2010. We succeeded in maintaining sales at a virtually consistent level in France, our top-selling market, despite strong generic competition. At the same time, we achieved strong sales gains in the growth markets of Asia and Latin America. In 2011, we launched Concor AM®, a combination product containing two complementary active ingredients: the beta-blocker bisoprolol and the calcium channel blocker amlodipine. We launched Concor AM® in Hungary in 2011. Launches in additional markets in Europe and Latin America will follow in 2012.
Globally, around 366 million people have diabetes, and the prevalence of this disease is rising. The active ingredient metformin, which is contained in our product Glucophage®, remains the drug of choice for first-line treatment of type 2 diabetes. More than seven million patients worldwide rely on our oral metformin products to treat this condition. The branded products from the Glucophage® range generated sales of € 346 million – an increase of 9.6%. Performance in growth markets was particularly dynamic. Sales of the Glucophage® range rose by 44% in Asia to € 100 million and by 18% in Latin America to € 94 million. We recorded sales declines in Europe because at times we reached our production capacity limits.
Merck is the world’s largest supplier of medicines to treat thyroid disorders. Sales of our key product, the thyroid hormone Euthyrox®, increased by 19% to € 175 million. Sales of all Merck thyroid products grew by 17% to € 199 million. Emerging markets also drove growth in this field. For instance, sales in China increased by 69% to € 20 million. This market offers tremendous potential as around 90 million people in China have thyroid disorders yet only 2% of them currently receive drug therapy.
Thanks to their good competitive position in key markets outside of Europe, our other products generated sales of € 1,034 million. Sales of the Neurobion® range increased by 10% to € 198 million. Neurobion® is a multivitamin to treat and prevent vitamin B deficiency. Neurobion® products are available in more than 70 countries.