Merck sells Claritin, Afrin rights to Bayer AG

Merck announced in a press release it has completed the sale of its consumer care business, which includes its allergy-treatment products Claritin and Afrin, to Bayer AG.

The transaction includes the global trademark and prescription rights for Claritin (loratadine), used for treating hay fever and urticaria, and Afrin (oxymetazoline) nasal spray for $14.2 billion or about $9 billion in after-tax proceeds, the release said.

“The proceeds from this sale … give us greater flexibility to invest in opportunities that augment the company’s pipeline and product portfolio, such as the purchase of Idenix to strengthen our hepatitis C portfolio, while at the same time continuing to return capital to shareholders,” Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer of Merck, said in the release.

The companies also entered into a worldwide collaboration to develop and commercialize soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) modulators. Riociguat (Adempas, Bayer AG), the first in a novel class of compounds approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, as well as vericiguat, an investigational compound in phase 2 development, are included. Along with the sGC collaboration, Merck will make an upfront payment of $1 billion, according to the release.