GSK to acquire Stiefel Labs to create specialist dermatology business

LONDON Days after it announced a plan to combine its HIV business with that of Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline said Monday that it will acquire another company to create a specialist business for developing skin medications.

GSK will acquire Stiefel Labs for $2.9 billion, as well as $400 million in debt that it will incur at the closing of the deal, and a further $300 million in cash depending on future performance. GSK will combine its existing dermatology business with that of Stiefel, which will continue to operate under the Stiefel name within GSK.

“As part of our strategy to grow and diversify GSK’s business, we are continuing to make new investments through targeted acquisitions,” GSK CEO Andrew Witty said. “This transaction will create a new world-leading, specialist dermatology business and re-energize our existing dermatology products.”

The British drug maker announced last week that it and Pfizer would spin off their HIV divisions and form a new company to develop and market HIV drugs. The Stiefel acquisiton comes amid a wave of large-scale acquisitions among drug companies, including Pfizer’s purchase of Wyeth, Merck & Co.’s acquisition of Schering-Plough and Roche’s acquisition of Genentech.