BRIEF—Impax and Amneal reportedly close to merger

Impax Laboratories and Amneal Pharmaceuticals are close to a merger agreement, The Wall Street reported on Monday.

The  article claims that the all-stock deal would give Impax shareholders 25% of a new, publicly traded company, while Amneal’s owners would hold the rest.

If the two US drugmakers were to join forces, they would create the USA’s fifth-largest generic-drug company by revenue, the article adds, and one expected to be worth $6.4 billion, or around $9 billion with debt.

It would reportedly operate as Amneal Pharmaceuticals, with some $2 billion in annual revenue and a biosimilars pipeline that includes a copy of Copaxone (glatiramer acetate), a blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug sold by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.