Pfizer Buy of Hospira Gets Green Light
August 24 2015 - 9:00AM
Dow Jones News
Pfizer Inc. on Monday said U.S. regulators have approved its
acquisition of smaller rival Hospira Inc., pending the divestiture
of some sterile injectable drugs, putting the deal on track to
close in early September.
Pfizer said it agreed to divest itself of four U.S. sterile
injectable assets: Acetylcysteine, Clindamycin, Voriconazole and
Melphalan.
Earlier in August, Pfizer agreed to make divestitures designed
to guard against price rises and protect the research and
development of drugs to gain European approval for the deal.
The deal, announced in February, will transform New York-based
Pfizer into a leading player in the emerging market for
lower-priced versions of costly biotech drugs.
Regulators have worried that the two companies, both based in
the U.S., would together have a high market share for certain
sterile injectable drugs, which are administered with a hollow
hypodermic needle.
European regulators were also concerned that the companies might
delay or discontinue production of a copycat version of Infliximab,
a popular drug used to treat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid
arthritis and Crohn's disease.
To assuage those concerns, Pfizer agreed to fully divest itself
of the development, manufacturing and marketing rights of its
Infliximab biosimilar drug currently in development, though it will
retain marketing rights outside Europe. It also agreed to dispose
of certain sterile injectable drugs that raised competition
concerns in individual EU countries.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 24, 2015 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)
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