By Jason Derry --
King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it will purchase Alpharma Inc. for about $1.6 billion in cash. King had been trying to convince Alpharma to accept an offer for the past couple of months (see "King Pharmaceuticals Extends Tender Offer to Acquire Alpharma"). Alpharma has two marketed pain killer products, KADIAN (an extended-release morphine painkiller) and FLECTOR (an NSAID patch product), as well as a line of products for animal health. Alpharma also has an abuse-resistant morphine pill that is currently under FDA review. These products and other product candidates complement King's portfolio of pain management therapeutics.
In addition, Johnson & Johnson has announced an agreement to buy Omrix Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. for about $438 million in cash. Omrix will reportedly continue to operate as a stand-alone company. Omrix is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on research and development of products relating to protein-based biosurgery and immunotherapy. Omrix has two marketed protein-based products that can be used during surgeries to control bleeding.
Jason Derry, Ph.D., who graduated with honors from DePaul University
College of Law, is a molecular biologist and founding author of Patent Docs.
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