- Regulatory authorities in the EU have approved Johnson and Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) planned $30B takeover of Actelion after the company pledged to spin-off one of the combined firm's two insomnia pipeline programs.
- Actelion's insomnia project will be transferred to a new company called Idorsia. J&J has agreed to limit its stake in the new entity to 10% if it is the largest shareholder and 16% if not. It will not nominate a board member and cannot influence its strategy or obtain information on the drug in development.
- J&J's program with Minerva Neurosciences competes directly with Actelion's. It has granted Minerva new rights over global development and has waived its royalty rights to Minerva sales in Europe.
- EU regulators saw no problems in the multiple sclerosis space because Actelion's product candidate differs from Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)'s that J&J's distributes in part of Europe.
- Source: Bloomberg
- Now read: Johnson & Johnson: Not Too Late To Take Chips Off The Table
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