EU Commission OKs J&J's buy of Synthes, but with conditions

The European Commission last week cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed $21.3 billion acquisition of Synthes by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), both companies active in the area of orthopedic medical devices, announced a year ago (The Pharma Letter April 27, 2011).

The Commission's investigation confirmed that, subject to the divestment of J&HJ’s trauma business, the merged entity would continue to face competition from a number of other strong competitors and that customers would still have sufficient alternative suppliers in all of the markets concerned.

Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquin Almunia said: "This was the first time the Commission examined these product markets. We obtained remedies to ensure that competition will remain strong in these markets, for the ultimate benefit of patients and social security systems ".