Pfizer off-patent division to merge with Mylan
Pfizer is to merge its off-patent drug business Upjohn with Mylan, in a deal that will see Pfizer shareholders own 57% of the new company.
Upjohn handles major Pfizer brands including Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium), Celebrex (celecoxib), and Viagra (sildenafil), while UK-registered Mylan markets products such as the epinephrine auto-injector Epipen.
Pfizer said the goal of the merger was to combine Upjohn’s “iconic” brands with Mylan’s portfolio and development pipeline.
The new company is predicted to bring in revenues of $19 billion to $20 billion by 2020, the statement said.
It will be led by Upjohn group president Michael Goettler, who will serve as CEO of the new company. Mylan chairman Robert Coury will assume the position of executive chairman, while Mylan president Rajiv Malik will continue in the same role.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch will retire after the deal is closed and CFO Ken Parks will leave the company.
It is the latest in a series of corporate structure makeovers for Pfizer, which recently acquired Array BioPharma for $11.4 billion and added former US Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb to its board of directors.
According to Pfizer, the Mylan merger allows the new company to market Mylan’s portfolio and pipeline products into “new growth markets where Upjohn has existing sales infrastructure and local market expertise”.
Coury said that the new company “will have a presence across nearly every continent and major market, establishing a new leadership position in Asia, and offering products capable of treating all major therapeutic areas”.
“This combination also further accelerates Mylan’s longstanding strategy to create the operational scale and commercial capabilities necessary to provide the world’s more than seven billion people with access to medicine,” the Mylan chairman added.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that the deal “represents our sharpened focus on innovative medicines”.
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