Boehringer-Ingelheim buys Zantac from Pfizer for $500m

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Pfizer’s consumer healthcare business to purchase Zantac, the stomach acid inhibitor, for $505.9 million (271.7 million pounds).

Pfizer Consumer Healthcare is selling the over-the-counter (OTC) drug – made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in prescription form – as it seeks to gain antitrust approval from American regulators in order to conclude its merger with Johnson & Johnson.

Boehringer Ingelheim will receive all Zantac rights in the US and will also utilise the existing distribution network used for Dulcolax, the company’s “flagship” OTC product.

J Martin Carroll, president and chief executive officer of Boehringer Ingelheim, commented: “Zantac is an excellent strategic fit that complements our existing OTC franchise and provides us with leading brands in the two largest gastrointestinal categories – acid reducers and laxatives.”

The company’s vice president of sales and marketing of consumer healthcare added: “Zantac is an excellent consumer brand with a strong market position and a bright future.”

Johnson & Johnson agreed to buy Pfizer Consumer Healthcare for $16.6 billion, a sum which Pfizer claims will help to drive investment in drug development and strengthen its long-term pipeline.

Zantac was originally developed by Glaxo, one of the original companies that merged to form GSK. For a number of years after 1986, the drug was the world’s best-selling medicine.