Ivax Pharmaceuticals and Teva $7.4bn merger cleared

The planned merger between Ivax and Teva has received clearance from US authorities.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has given the necessary orders so the two firms can close the deal.

Under the order Ivax must end agreements to distribute certain generic drugs and the two firms will have to sell the rights and assets needed to manufacture and market 15 generic drugs, which have total annual sales of around $15 million.

The merger, worth around $7.4 billion, is now to go ahead formally on January 26th and will make Teva the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical supplier.

Jeffrey Brennan, of the FTC, said: “Teva and Ivax overlap in a number of generic pharmaceutical markets, and the merger as originally proposed likely would have caused significant harm to US consumers.

“The commission’s consent order will protect US consumers from higher prices for these important generic drugs by requiring divestitures to replace the competition that otherwise would be lost through the merger.”

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