King's acquisition of Alpharma nears close
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
King Pharmaceuticalsis to divest its rights to Alpharma's branded oral long-acting opioid Kadian (morphine sulfate) to Actavisafter the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) intervened in King's acquisition of Alpharma. Under the FTC's order, King is to divest its Kadian rights to Actavis to restore the competition between Kadian and its own long-acting opioid Avinza (morphine sulfate) that would otherwise be lost as a result of the acquisition. The FTC has also ended the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period for the proposed acquisition. King extended the expiry date of its tender offer to buy Alpharma earlier this month from 5pm December 19th to 10am December 29th.