Is Barr Labs competing for Pliva?

Although there was no confirmation as this issue of the Marketletter went to press, it has been reported by the UK's Financial Times that US Barr Laboratories has made a $2.1 billion counter bid for the Croatian generics group Pliva, eastern Europe's largest drugmaker by sales, topping that of rejected suitor Iceland's Actavis, whose increased offer for the firm was around $1.85 billion (Marketletters May 15 and April 3).

The FT says that it is understood that the Pliva management favors the Barr approach because it would leave the Croatian team largely in place. Also, the US company already has an agreement with Pliva for a joint venture to create a generic biological version of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, a treatment for the regulation of white blood cell production.

In a statement to Reuters, which took up the story after the FT report, Pliva said: "we're currently in the process of considering strategic options together with our financial adviser Deutsche Bank. We can only confirm that several investors have expressed interest in the company." The intention is to reach maximum value for Pliva shareholders, the statement added.