Bausch & Lomb moves to acquire Miochol-E from Novartis as required by US competition authority

In order to comply with US anti-trust requirements imposed by the Federal Trade Commission to complete its purchase of eye-care specialist Alcon (ACL), Swiss drug major Novartis (NOVN.VX, NVS) was told it had to make certain divestments (The Pharma Letter August 17), one of which was to sell its ophthalmic drug Miochol-E to Bausch & Lomb (NYSE: BOL), a competitor in the eye-care sector.

B&L says that it has concluded its acquisition of a portion of the assets and intellectual property for Miochol-E from affiliates of Novartis for the USA, Canada, Australia and Korea, along with various other markets outside the European Economic Area (EEA), and intends to complete the acquisition of the remaining assets and intellectual property upon the necessary regulatory clearance by the European Commission. The companies have not disclosed financial purchase terms.

'Miochol-E adds further diversity to our extensive ophthalmic pharmaceuticals portfolio. We're glad patients will continue to benefit from this broadly known product,' said Brent Saunders, chief executive of Bausch & Lomb.