Drug firm Perrigo buys OTC portfolio of drugs from GSK

Perrigo, the Irish specialist in over the counter drugs, has agreed to buy a portfolio of products from GlaxoSmithKline.

GSK’s consumer healthcare division has to offload the products under the terms of the European Commission’s approval of its consumer health joint venture with Novartis

Under the terms of the deal, Perrigo will acquire rights to the nicotine replacement therapies of both GSK and Novartis – NiQuitin and Nicotinell – in various jurisdictions. It will also market Novartis's cold sore management products in the European Economic Area and cold and flu, and pain relief product sin Sweden.

The terms of the cash deal were not disclosed. Perrigo is domiciled in Ireland, since its acquisition of the rump of the Elan Pharma business in 2013.

Perrigo chairman and chief executive Joe Papa said the deal confirmed its strategy of making "selective, accretive transactions to expand our durable base business".

“We are building on the global platform we established with the Omega Pharma acquisition [completed earlier this year] to capture an even greater share of the $30 billion European OTC [over the counter drugs] market opportunity with several well-established, complementary brands that bolster our OTC product portfolio,” he said.

The deal comes as Perrigo continues to wrestle with the attention of generics group Mylan.

Mr Papa said at a recent investor meeting that there was a price at which talks with Mylan on a deal could happen, though he added that the current bid of $75 in cash and 2.3 Mylan shares for each Perrigo share is nowhere near there.

Perrigo estimates Mylan’s offer as being worth $202 a share, saying the shares in Dutch-domiciled Mylan have been inflated. Mylan has said the offer for Perrigo is worth $232.23 a share.

Mr Papa has declined to date to comment on what price he wants.

For its part, Mylan is fending off the attention of its larger Israeli rival, Teva.

Teva proposed buying Mylan for $40.1 billion in cash and stock in April in a public letter. Mylan rejected that offer, saying that it preferred to go ahead with its attempt to buy Perrigo.

On Monday, Mylan said Teva needed to make clear whether it will make a formal, binding offer or not.

"It is time for Teva and its board to stop playing games with our company, its business, mission and strategy and its stakeholders," executive chairman Robert Coury wrote Teva chief executive Erez Vigodman. "Teva and its board must stop pursuing what amounts to nothing more than an illusory alternative for our shareholders to the Perrigo transaction." – Additional reporting Bloomberg