Glaxo pulls out of bidding for Pfizer unit

Pfizer Inc.’s Advil and Centrum aren’t as desirable as the U.S. drug giant expected.

The company was left without a potential buyer for its consumer-health unit on Friday as U.K. drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC withdrew from bidding, after Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC withdrew dropped out earlier this week. The development left the U.S. company with dwindling options to dispose of a business valued at as much as $20 billion.

Glaxo, Bayer AG, Sanofi and other makers of over-thecounter health products have experienced pressure on prices as drugstores and online retailers vie to get shoppers. Merck KGaA is exploring options for its consumer division and has yet to find a buyer. The sector’s environment is changing as stores push their own brands and consumers become more budget-conscious, said Michael Leuchten, a London-based analyst with UBS Group AG.