U.S. FTC Clears Valeant Deal for Medicis Pharmaceutical

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has cleared Valeant Pharmaceuticals International's $2.6 billion deal to buy U.S. dermatology rival Medicis Pharmaceutical, without conditions, Valeant said on Friday.

The combined company is set to dominate the U.S. dermatology market. Medicis led that market in gross sales in 2011, while Valeant, Canada's biggest public drugmaker, ranked third, Valeant said when the deal was first announced.

Last December, when the FTC approved Valeant's acquisitions of the dermatology units of Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson, it forced the firm to sell off the rights to three drugs.

Valeant, on the acquisition trail since its 2010 takeover by Biovail, which assumed the Valeant name, has favored segments where patients often pay out of pocket, such as ophthalmology and dermatology, cutting its exposure to cost-sensitive insurers.

Medicis' products include Solodyn, a prescription acne tablet, Restylane, an injectable filler, and Dysport, a competitor to Allergan's Botox anti-wrinkle treatment.