Pfizer and Mylan set to merge off-patent drugs businesses

Stock deal will create large seller of products including former blockbusters Lipitor and Viagra

Pfizer is expected to announce on Monday that it will combine its offpatent drug business with Mylan, the generics drugmaker with a market value of $ 9.5bn, according to people familiar with the matter.

The US drugmaker is expected to spin-off the new unit to create a much larger seller of off-patent and generic medicines, including former blockbuster brands Lipitor and Viagra.

Mylan shareholders will hold just over 40 per cent of the new venture, and Pfizer would also receive close to $12bn in proceeds from the sale of debt, the people said. The deal is expected to be all-stock.

The plans would also see Mylan’s chief executive Heather Bresch depart, after leading the company for seven years.

Big pharma has been increasingly turning to mergers and acquisitions in recent years to either sell non-core assets or buy innovative drugmakers as their own products are close to lose patent protection. All major companies are focusing on becoming one of the top three in whatever category they operate.

Pfizer’s transaction with Mylan is the latest in a wave of large pharma and healthcare deals this year, including BristolMyers Squibb’s $90bn acquisition of biotech Celgene, Roche’s $4.8bn takeover of gene therapy company Spark Therapeutics and Johnson & Johnson’s $3.4bn acquisition of surgical robotics specialist Auris Health. Abbvie last month signalled its intention to buy Allergan, the maker of Botox, for $63bn.