HOSPIRA, MAYNE TO SELL OFF FIVE PRODUCTS TO GET REGULATORY APPROVAL FOR BUYOUT

The FTC is set to approve a plan proposed by Hospira to acquire Australia-based generic firm Mayne Pharma for $2 billion, as long as certain conditions are met, the agency has announced.

The approval is contingent upon a consent order requiring the companies to sell off certain rights and assets owned by Mayne related to the production and supply of five generic injectable drugs used to treat various forms of pain. The transaction involves hydromorphone, nalbuphine, morphine, preservative-free morphine and deferoxamine.

The FTC issued a complaint following an announcement by Hospira last September of its intention to acquire all outstanding shares of Mayne. The agency said the agreement would have had an anticompetitive effect because both companies have overlapping markets for the same generic injectable pharmaceuticals.

Hospira and Mayne are two of only three companies that offer generic injectable hydromorphone, a Schedule II narcotic analgesic, used to relieve moderate to severe pain. In addition, Hospira is the sole supplier for generic nalbuphine, used to relieve moderate to severe pain. Mayne is in the process of entering this market and is one of few companies capable of doing so. Hospira is the leading U.S. supplier of injectable morphine, with only one competitor. The company is also one of two suppliers of preservative-free morphine and one of two suppliers of injectable deferoxamine.

Both companies have agreed to sell the rights and assets related to the five generic injectable drugs in question to Barr Laboratories within 10 days of the acquisition.

The value of the product rights and related assets was not made public, according to an FTC spokesman.