Abbott Labs told it cannot acquire Russia's Petrovax Farm

The Russian government has imposed a ban on the sale of Petrovax Farm, one of Russia’s leading vaccines producers and biotechnology companies, by USA-based Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) in a deal that would have been worth up to $500 million, according to Igor Artemyev, head of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service. News of the deal emerged last fall (The Pharma Letter October 15, 2012).

Mr Artemyev said the decision was taken due to national security concerns and the use of international experience, where the producers of drugs for mass vaccination are national companies.

Irina Guschina, head of the PR-department of Abbott Russia, said that the company has not yet received the official notice from the FAS about the blockage of the deal, which was agreed between the companies in the middle of last year.