Pharmaceutical Business review

European Commission approves Teva’s $40.5bn acquisition of Allergan’s generics business

The commission had concerns that the merged entity would have faced insufficient competition from the other rivals for several generic drugs, particularly in the UK Ireland and Iceland.

To address those concerns, the two companies had offered to sell each of the marketed molecules and molecules in development pipeline in 24 European countries,

Teva will sell a majority of the existing Allergan Generic business in the UK and Ireland. The divested business will have the capacity to manufacture and market generic medicines.

Teva will integrate the rest of the Allergan Generics UK/Ireland business with its operations in line with the global transaction.

In Iceland, Teva will sell its generic business and retain the Allergan Generics business.

European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said: "Effective competition between generic pharmaceutical manufacturers is essential to drive down prices for patients and healthcare systems.

"I am glad we have found a solution that allows this takeover to proceed, while ensuring that competition will continue in all European countries."

The deal is still subject to approval by regulators in the US. Teva said it continues to work with the Federal Trade Commission to secure regulatory approval in the US.

The acquisition will bring to Teva, Allergan’s Actavis global generics business, including the US and international generic commercial units, third-party supplier Medis, global generic manufacturing operations, the global generic R&D unit, the international over-the-counter (OTC) commercial unit (excluding OTC eye care products) and some established international brands.


Image: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries agreed to acquire Allergan’s global generics business. Photo: courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.