Swiss company, Novartis, says that it has made submissions to the European and US regulatory authorities seeking approval for its proposed acquisition of privately-held German generics company Hexal, and Eon Labs of the US [[21/02/05b]].
Specifically, Novartis says it filed for the European Commission nod for the purchase of the German firm on 4 April. A submission for the green light from the US Federal Trade Commission for the Eon Labs buy was made on 7 March. The FTC asked for additional information on this latter purchase on 6 April, which Novartis says is not unusual in a transaction of this size and nature in the pharmaceutical industry.
Back in February, Novartis revealed that it would be buying the two generics companies in a 5.7 billion-euro deal, which would propel it to the number one spot in the world’s generics league table. The firm currently boasts a not insignificant generics presence with its Sandoz unit, which was boosted by the purchase of Slovenian company, Lek, back in 2002 [[22/11/02e]], and the acquisition of Canadian rival, Sabex, in a $565 million deal last summer [[16/08/04d]].
