Bristol-Myers Sells Asia Rights to Taisho

Bristol-Myers Squibb said it will sell Asia rights to over-the-counter drugs and its Indonesian unit to Japan's Taisho Pharmaceutical for $310 million, its seventh deal aimed at helping it focus on prescription drugs. Taisho, Japan's biggest maker of non-prescription drugs will make its first full-fledged entry into Asia's OTC drug market. The move by Taisho is the latest in a string of overseas acquisitions by Japanese drugmakers seeking to beef up their development pipelines and expand outside a mature home market and whose buying power has been helped by a strong yen. Bristol said it will sell the Asia rights to a batch of products, including painkillers Tempra and Counterpain, for $160 million and its 98 % stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb Indonesia for $150 million.