Teva's acquisition of Barr cleared by FTC

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have announced that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") has accepted the proposed consent order in connection with the pending acquisition of Barr by Teva and granted early termination of the Hart Scott Rodino waiting period.

Under the consent order that has been executed by the parties and accepted for public comment by the FTC, Teva and Barr are required to divest certain formulations of 16 overlapping on-market generic drugs, representing approximately $60 million in the companies' annual sales, and 13 overlapping pipeline generic drugs.

With the approval of the European Commission earlier today, the parties have now obtained all regulatory approvals required to close the transaction and, accordingly, have scheduled a closing date of December 23, 2008.