$8bn deal follows trend as drugmakers aim for economies of scale

Irish-headquartered firm Endo Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy private US firm Par Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth around $8 billion (£5.2 billion) in a combination of cash, shares and assumed debt.

The companies have been partners for the last three years, and have both approved the deal. Endo claims it will enter the top five speciality pharmaceutical firms (as measured by US sales) following the transaction.

The deal is part of a significant trend of mergers between generic drug manufacturers, including a deal between Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy in India, and a three-way battle between Perrigo, Mylan and Teva. Endo has been quite aggressive in its pursuit of merger deals – most recently it tempted US biotech Auxilium to back out of a deal agreed with QLT, and tried but failed to do the same in a deal between Valeant and Salix Pharmaceuticals.

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