Actavis goes up for sale, peaks interest of major Rx companies

NEW YORK Icelandic generic drug maker Actavis is for sale and could go for up to $10.8 billion at a time when many generic drug companies find themselves targets of acquisitions.

The fifth largest maker of generic drugs in the world, Actavis became a private company in 2007 after action by majority stakeholder Novator, led by Icelandic billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson.

According to Reuters, a number of large drug makers could end up buying the company, including Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis.

In other news, the Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it had filed a consent decree and was awaiting the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey’s entry of a permanent injunction forbidding Actavis’ U.S. subsidiary, Actavis Totowa, from manufacturing drugs in its New Jersey factories until the FDA decides the factories are in compliance with current good-manufacturing practice requirements.