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9 April 2014Europe

Mallinckrodt picks up Acthar in Questcor merger

Dublin-based Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals has announced it will buy US biopharmaceutical company Questcor Pharmaceuticals for $5.6 billion.

As part of the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, Mallinckrodt will acquire Questcor’s lead product Acthar (corticotropin).

The multiple sclerosis drug comprises most of Questcor’s net sales, which totalled $799 million in 2013.

Acthar has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for 19 indications, many related to the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Mallinckrodt said it expects Acthar will be a “strong complement” to its portfolio of specialty pharmaceuticals, which it recently added to with its $1.4 billion purchase of Cadence Pharmaceuticals in February.

Mallinckrodt’s chief executive Mark Trudeau said of the transaction: “We will … have an increasingly diversified specialty pharmaceuticals portfolio, which will include novel therapeutics for pain management, as well as central nervous system, renal, rheumatologic and other autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.”

Don Bailey, chief executive of Questcor, said: “I strongly believe Mallinckrodt is the right partner to support the continued growth of Acthar in the highly specialised markets that we serve.

He added: “Questcor commercial operations will function as a separate business unit within Mallinckrodt, and given the complementary nature of our businesses and product portfolios we expect this to be a seamless transaction.”


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6 September 2017   Industrial gases company Praxair has been cleared of patent infringement in a district court ruling after Mallinckrodt accused the company of infringing its respiratory treatment Inomax (nitric oxide).

More on this story

Americas
6 September 2017   Industrial gases company Praxair has been cleared of patent infringement in a district court ruling after Mallinckrodt accused the company of infringing its respiratory treatment Inomax (nitric oxide).