The European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition of Pfizer’s Consumer Health Business by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). GSK and Pfizer are both manufacturers and suppliers of “over-the-counter” (“OTC”) pharmaceuticals such as pain management, cold and flu treatments, gastrointestinal treatments and sleeping aids.
The acquisition raised competition concerns in pain management pharmaceuticals where two parties have overlapping market activities. GSK is a leading OTC supplier of pain management products in the EEA with Volta-branded products and Pfizer is mostly active in the EEA for ThermaCare-branded pain management products. The Commission found that all types of pain management products (e.g. patches and gels, medicated or not) are broadly substitutable and this acquisition may cause price increase.
Addressing these concerns; Pfizer’s proposal to transfer the pain management business with its range of ThermaCare-branded products to third parties, including intellectual property rights and ongoing R&D activities, was accepted by the Commission. The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns in the market where the activities of two companies overlap. In conclusion, the Commission approved the acquisition with commitments. (Commission Decision – 10.07.2019, M.9274)
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