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Pfizer, Pharmacia buyout granted European regulatory approval

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Pfizer announced earlier this week that the European Commission has granted approval for its buyout of Pharmacia after the two companies agreed to give up rights to three experimental drugs in development.

To gain European Union (EU) approval, Pharmacia had to agree to divest itself from two impotence drugs in development. The EU said without doing so, the new company would have a dominant position in the therapeutic category. The companies also agreed to sell a compound currently in late-stage development for the treatment of overactive bladder, according to several sources. In addition, the companies agreed to divest Ketensin, an antihypertensive drug sold in the Netherlands and Parkemoxin, an animal antibiotic marketed in Germany, reported The Financial Times.

The proposed merger has yet to receive U.S. regulatory approval, but U.S. stockholders approved the deal last December, and Pfizer executives expect to complete the merger by the end of March.