Pfizer Gets Green Light for Hospira Acquisition

Pfizer can now progress its $17 billion purchase of Hospira after receiving final regulatory approvals from the USA and Brazil.

The clearance from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is subject to Pfizer divesting four of its sterile injectable drugs, notably antibiotic clindamycin, antifungal agent voriconazole, chemotherapy drug melphalan, and acetylcysteine which is used to prevent liver damage after a paracetamol overdose.

Brazil has approved the deal with no conditions. The transaction is expected to close early in September.

The merger, first announced in February this year, was approved in Australia and Europe in early August. The European approval was contingent upon Pfizer divesting various sterile injectable drugs as well as its biosimilar version of Johnson & Johnson’s arthritis drug Remicade, which the European Commission was worried would cease development under the merger.

US-based Hospira is the world’s leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies and a global leader in biosimilars. Pfizer plans to significantly expand the reach of Hospira’s products to Europe and key emerging markets. They are currently distributed mainly in the USA.

According to Pfizer, the global markets for generic sterile injectables and biosimilars are predicted to be worth $70 billion and $20 billion, respectively, in 2020.