Teva Wins U.S. Nod for Actavis After Divestiture of 79 Drugs

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s $40.5 billion purchase of Allergan Plc’s generic drug-making unit after the companies agreed to the largest divestiture ever in a pharmaceutical merger case to preserve competition.

The companies agreed to sell 79 existing and future drugs including anesthetics, antibiotics, weight-loss drugs and oral contraceptives to eleven rival firms to win approval, according to an FTC statement July 27. The divestitures must be completed 10 days after Teva’s acquisition of Allergan’s generics unit, Actavis Inc., is complete, the FTC said.

“Millions of Americans rely daily on generic drugs to treat a wide ...