Actavis has confirmed it is in talks to acquire Dublin-based, speciality pharma company Warner Chilcott, but said the discussions were at an early stage with no agreement yet reached.
It comes just weeks after a deal with Valeant thatValeant, that would reportedly have seen a multi-billion dollar merger between the Canadian company and New Jersey-based Actavis, fell through.
Actavis’ interest in what it termed “a possible combination” with Warner Chilcott would bring it the company’s branded pharmaceutical interests in women’s healthcare, gastroenterology, urology and dermatology.
Primarily focused on the North American market, the US FDA last week approved two of Actavis’ new oral contraceptives: norethindrone acetate and ethinyl estradiol chewable tablets, and ferrous fumarate tablets (known as Minastrin 24 FE).
Warner Chilcott, which had previously put itself on the market last year, brought in revenues of $593m in the first quarter of this year, a figure that was down 13 per cent on last year.
Announcing the results, the company said the drop in sales were primarily due to generic competition for its anti-inflammatory product Asacol.
Buying Warner Chilcott would diversify Actavis’ core strength in generics, a position that was boosted by last year’s takeover of Actavis by Watson, with the parent company subsequently taking the Actavis name.
That deal made Actavis the third-largest generics company, after Teva and Novartis’ Sandoz unit, with a presence in more than 60 markets.