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Pfizer-Wyeth deal clears final regulatory hurdle

October 14, 2009 12:00 am • Last Updated: October 14, 2009 1:30 pm

By Lee Howard
Business Editor

l.howard@theday.com

<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type" /><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId" /><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Generator" /><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Originator" /><link href="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\M1FC1~1.NAD\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\03\clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List" /><style>  </style> <hardreturn>Pfizer Inc.'s $60 billion-plus deal to acquire Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has cleared its final regulatory hurdle in the United States, The Wall Street Journal is reporting today.<br class=hardreturn /> <hardreturn>Pfizer said in a subsequent press release that it also has received approval from the Canadian Competition Bureau for the Wyeth acquisition. The company said the megamerger is expected to be completed by Thursday.<br class=hardreturn /> <hardreturn>"We are pleased to have received all of the requisite regulatory approvals for our combination with Wyeth," said Pfizer chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Kindler. "We now look forward to combining the two companies so that we can achieve meaningful results for patients, customers and the communities we serve, as well as for our shareholders." <br class=hardreturn /> <hardreturn>The U.S. Federal Trade Commission OK'd the deal today, with the stipulation that both companies sell off overlapping animal-health assets, including vaccines, The Journal said.<br class=hardreturn /> <hardreturn>Pfizer already had agreed to sell off half of Wyeth's Fort Dodge animal-health operation to drug firm Boehringer Ingelheim. The FTC decision requires the animal-health deal to be completed within 10 days of Pfizer's final acquisition of Wyeth, The Journal reported.<br class=hardreturn /> <hardreturn>The FTC said no anti-competitive concerns were raised in the human-health sphere.<br class=hardreturn /> <hardreturn>"The commission remains dedicated to ensuring that pharmaceutical markets are competitive," the FTC said in a written statement. <br class=hardreturn />

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