Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline To Team Up To Form World's Largest Seller Of Over-The-Counter Staples Like Advil
The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer, Glaxo To Combine Consumer-Health Businesses
Pfizer Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC plan to combine their consumer-health units, and eventually spin off the joint venture—creating a global giant selling drugstore staples like Advil and Sensodyne toothpaste. The deal announced Wednesday is an unexpected ending to a yearlong process by Pfizer to shed its consumer business, as it and other pharmaceutical companies focus more on higher-margin prescription-drugs. Glaxo has been pursuing the same focus, though has until now stayed committed to its consumer business, which its chief executive led before her promotion to the top job. (Martuscelli and Roland, 12/19)
The New York Times: GlaxoSmithKline And Pfizer To Merge Consumer Health Units
The companies said they expected the deal to close in the second half of next year, and that plans call for the new business to be spun off within five years via a listing on the British stock markets. The divisions being merged had combined global sales of $12.7 billion in 2017. (Condliffe, 12/19)
Bloomberg: Glaxo Plans Breakup After Pfizer Deal Combines Panadol, Advil
The non-cash transaction creates the world’s biggest supplier of over-the-counter medicines with brands of painkillers such as Advil and Panadol and marks a shift from Glaxo Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley’s previously stated strategy of keeping the steadily performing consumer and vaccine businesses under the same roof as the more volatile pharma operations. (Paton, 12/19)
Reuters: Drugmaker GSK To Split After Striking Pfizer Consumer Health Deal
For Pfizer, the deal resolves the issue of what to do with its consumer health division, which includes Advil painkillers and Centrum vitamins, after an abortive attempt to sell it outright earlier this year. GSK, whose consumer products include Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers, had withdrawn from that earlier Pfizer auction process but Walmsley said the opportunity to strike an all-equity deal cleared the way for the new agreement. (12/19)
In other health industry news —
Bloomberg: J&J, Imerys Said To Pay More Than $1.5 Million In Talc Case Deal
Johnson & Johnson may be sending a peace signal after two years of warring over allegations that its iconic baby powder causes cancer. In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind settlement while facing thousands of lawsuits, the world’s largest health-care products maker and its talc supplier agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to a woman who claimed J&J’s baby powder gave her asbestos cancer, according to people familiar with the accord. (Feeley and Fisk, 12/18)
The New York Times: Allergan Halts Sales In Europe Of Textured Breast Implants Linked To Rare Cancer
Breast implants made by Allergan that have been linked to an uncommon form of cancer are being taken off the market in Europe, French authorities announced on Tuesday. The implants, which have a textured or slightly roughened surface, rather than a smooth covering, cannot be manufactured or sold in Europe for the time being, and the ones kept on hand at health centers are being recalled. (Grady, 12/18)
