NEW YORK - BRITISH drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC is reportedly nearing a deal to purchase privately held US skincare products maker Stiefel Laboratories Inc for about US$3 billion (S$4.5 billion).
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, said on Sunday that the deal could be announced on Monday, but is not etched in stone.
Coral Gables, Florida-based Stiefel, which makes acne treatments and other skin creams, lotions, washes and vitamins, had also reportedly drawn interest from Johnson & Johnson and Novartis AG when it put itself on the block earlier this year. The company is partly owned by Blackstone Group.
Stiefel and GlaxoSmithKline did not immediately return messages seeking comment Sunday evening.
Acquiring Stiefel would boost the dermatology offerings of Glaxo, which currently makes the Abreva cold sore medicine. Glaxo has said it is alert to potential acquisition opportunities as the turbulent market conditions lead some businesses to sell off assets, and has maintained that it has experienced no significant impact itself from a downturn in world economies.
Glaxo, the world's No 2 drug maker by revenue, has been moving to replace falling sales of key older drugs facing generic competition by diversifying into less traditional non-pharmaceutical markets. The drugmaker has said it will lose about US$5 billion worth of sales as demand falls for treatments like its diabetes drug Avandia - which has suffered from safety concerns - its antidepressant Wellbutrin and heart medication Coreg.
The company in February was reported by The Wall Street Journal to be in talks to buy Indian generic drug developer Piramal Healthcare Ltd for about US$1.5 billion. Piramal sells a range of generic prescription drugs along with chemical ingredients used in drug manufacturing.
Last week, the UK drug developer said it would team with Pfizer Inc to create a new company to develop and sell HIV medicines.
If completed, Glaxo's Stiefel purchase would follow a string of tie-ups in the pharmaceutical industry. Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche last month agreed to pay US $47 billion to buy out biotech pioneer Genentech, while similar deals are uniting Pfizer Inc and Wyeth, as well as Merck & Co Inc and Schering-Plough Corp. -- AP
