Schering Plough receives EU approval for acquisition of Organon BioSciences

Schering-Plough has received approval from the European commission (EC) for its planned acquisition of Organon BioSciences from Akzo Nobel.

The company announced the planned acquisition in March and the EC’s approval marks a significant step in the transaction.

The pharmaceutical company still needs to secure certain regulatory approvals including clearance from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) but is hopeful that the acquisition will be completed by the end of 2007.

Organon BioSciences is made up principally of the human pharmaceutical business Organon but also includes the animal heath business Intervet as well as Nobilon, the human vaccine development unit.

The EC’s approval came with the agreement by Schering-Plough to divest certain animal health products in Europe.

These divestitures are not linked to the company’s financial results and no human health products are required to be divested.

Schering-Plough is a global science-based health care company producing an array of prescription, consumer and animal health products

Last month, Schering-Plough’s Pegintron and Rebetol combination hepatitis C therapy received a positive opinion from the EU’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.