Sale of Germany's Ratiopharm now in final stages, with Pfizer tipped as biggest bidder

With several bidders having dropped by the wayside (including French major Sanofi-Aventis) since Germany's privately-owned generic drugmaker Ratiopharm came up for auction following the suicide of its principal Adolf Merckle - who had accumulated massive debts estimated at $6.8 billion - in January 2009, there seem just three in the line-up as the negotiations move into the final stages; Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, now the global leader in copy medicines, US drug behemoth Pfizer and Iceland's Actavis (in collaboration with Swedish equity firm EQT Partners; The Pharma Letters passim).

The three companies presented their case on the 'soft' issues relating to the sale of the German company - such as preservation of manufacturing and employment - to Ratiopharm's management this week and will now be given access to commercially-sensitive information. The company will make it is full-year audited accounts available by mid-March with the aim of concluding the sale by the end of the month.

Pfizer ready to bid as much as $4.08 billion, say sources