European regulatory approval for J&J's Guidant buy-out deal |
|
|
|
Published
:
Sat, 27 Aug 2005 06:05
|
BRUSSELS: The European regulator has cleared Johnson & Johnson's $25.4 billion deal to buy Guidant Corp. While giving a conditional approval, the European Commission noted that there are currently two major suppliers of coronary drug-eluting stents worldwide -- Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific along with a number of other players, including Guidant.
While the approval clears a major hurdle for the buyout, there are apprehensions that the deal will be executed on the current terms as Indianapolis-based Guidant has called back several heart devices it had supplied in recent months. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already announced an investigation into the manufacturing facilities of the medical devices maker.
Johnson & Johnson said it now expects the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to complete its review by October. The company also said it is working with Guidant to "understand and evaluate the impacts of the recalled implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) during the past several months".
When the deal finally goes through, it will be the largest ever in the medical devices industry. It will give the 118-year-old New Brunswick, New Jersey-based maker of drugs, baby items, orthopedic and other health products and which faces the prospect of patent expirations of some key drugs, a total access to the market of implantable heart devices. Guidant also has other vascular products like cardiac stents.
The European Commission had decided on an in-depth study of the deal as the two companies are direct competitors in several products. The probe focused on three areas -- coronary drug-eluting stents (DES) and accessories, endovascular stents and accessories used in peripheral arteries and devices used in cardiac surgery. The commission concluded that even without Guidant in the DES market there would still be competition.
Johnson & Johnson said it will sell its Cordis unit, making steerable coronary guidewires, and Guidant's Endovascular Solutions unit in Europe. It is also looking for ways to avert an overlap in endoscopic vessel-harvesting product lines.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
