EU Commission delays decision on Abbott's acquisition of Solvay; clears Archimedes takeover

The European Commission revealed on Friday that it has extended its antitrust investigation of US health care major Abbott Laboratories' planned acquisition of the pharmaceutical business of Belgian company Solvay SA by 10 working days to February 11.

Abbott initiated its action last year, when it offered to buy's Solvay's pharmaceuticals business for 4.5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) in cash, providing Abbott with a large and complementary portfolio of pharmaceutical products ' including drugs for Parkinson's and Meniere's diseases and an antihypertensive - and a significant presence in key global emerging markets. It would also include global rights to the fenofibrate franchise, the active ingredient for cholesterol drugs TriCor and TriLipex, for which it already has US marketing rights and pays royalties to Solvay. TriCor generated $1.34 billion in revenue for Abbott last year (The Pharma Letter September 28, 2009). The transaction also includes payments of up to 300 million euros if certain sales milestones are met between 2011 and 2013.

According to various media reports, the investigation is being extended due to commitments offered by Abbott in order to remove competition concerns the commission may have concerning the deal, the Commission said. Although the Commission would not specify what the commitments were, those often include divestments in areas of high market concentration, it was noted.