Alvogen To Buy Product Portfolio From Pfizer For U.S. Market

(RTTNews) - Privately-held pharmaceutical company Alvogen said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire from Pfizer Inc. (PFE) a portfolio of four pharmaceutical products in the U.S., noting that the acquisition will further diversify and strengthen its commercial platform in the U.S. market.

Alvogen is focused on manufacturing and selling generic, brand, over-the-counter brands or OTC and biosimilar products. The company has commercial operations in 35 countries with 2,300 employees and operates four manufacturing and development hubs in the U.S., Romania, Korea and Taiwan. North America is Alvogen's single largest market.

Alvogen has developed a strong track record in the U.S. market with over 60 pipeline ANDAs, of which 28 have first-to-file or first-to-market potential.

The four products that Alvogen will acquire are being divested by Pfizer as a precondition to its closing of the $15.2 billion acquisition of Hospira Inc. (HSP). This includes three injectable products and one inhaled solution product.

Of these, two are on-market products, Clindamycin injection and Acetylcysteine inhalation solution. Acetylcysteine will continue to be marketed by Fresenius, while Alvogen will receive profit sharing payments.

In addition, Alvogen will acquire two pending ANDA's, Voriconazole injection and Melphalan injection. Both pending applications represent generic market with limited participation and are expected to launch as early as 2016.

Robert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen, said, "This acquisition supports our strategy to gain exposure to the high growth, injectable segment in the U.S. market. These products will complement as well as significantly strengthen our existing portfolio, further enhancing our customer offering."

On Monday, Pfizer said that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved its acquisition of Hospira, the world's largest producer of injectable drugs, and it expects to close the merger by September.

The FTC's clearance is subject to Pfizer's commitment to divest four U.S. sterile injectable assets, including Acetylcysteine, Clindamycin, Voriconazole and Melphalan.

In early August, Pfizer obtained European approval for the deal, but after agreeing to certain divestitures to stabilize prices and protect the development of drugs. Regulators were concerned that the merger would enable the two companies to dominate the market for some sterile injectable drugs.

PFE is trading at $31.83, up $0.49 or 1.56 percent on a volume of 1.45 million shares.