Alpharma relents, accepting King Pharma

After a more than three-month stand-off, US drugmaker Alpharma says it has accepted King Pharmaceuticals' unsolicited - but increased - takeover bid, of $37 a share, or around $1.6 billion, which the firm's board initially rejected in August (Marketletters passim).

The deal is important, because King is facing declining revenues due to the market entry of generic substitutes for its lead product, cardiovascular drug Altace (ramipril). With almost 1,400 employees and 2007 revenues of $722.0 million, Alpharma's top two products are the branded sustained-release morphine capsule Kadian and topical pain relief patch Flector (diclofenac epolamine), which was launched at the start of the year (Marketletter February 18).

Under the terms of the merger deal, King's tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of class A common stock of Alpharma, which was scheduled to expire on November 21,will be extended and will remain open through December 19, unless further extended.