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Perrigo loses bid to acquire Leiner's vitamin division By Yoram Gabison Earlier this week, drug company Perrigo lost a public tender to acquire the vitamins division of its American competitor Leiner, to rival firm NBTY. NBTY, which also makes vitamins and food additives, first bid $230 million, though the final offer was set by auction. NBTY finally won with a bid of $371 million for Leiner's vitamins division and also undertook tens of millions of dollars in debts to suppliers. Advertisement Rafi Lebel, CEO of Perrigo Israel, said that his company's bid had been millions of dollars lower, and believed the final price had reached the limit of economic feasibility and might have harmed returns to shareholders. Losing the auction was the least bad alternative, Lebel said, because New-Jersey based NBTY focuses on the vitamin and nutritional supplement market, while Perrigo sells non-prescription medications. Leiner encountered liquidity problems after U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors discovered irregularities at the company's South Carolina plant, which was then closed. Leiner's activity dropped off, and in March, the company was obliged to seek protection from its creditors. Leiner's annual vitamin sales total $400 million. The company produced vitamins and nutritional supplements under the company's brand name and under private brand names for chains including Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Costco and Kroger. The company sold 225 products, marketed under a total of 1,550 different over-the-counter labels. Leiner marketed 93% of its vitamins under the large chains' private labels, and the rest under the label Your Life. Had it won the tender, Perrigo would have become the leading company in the United States in the field, with $550 million turnover in a market that worth $1.7 billion a year. However, now it will remain with a relatively limited activity of $150 million annually, and will continue competing with NBTY, Weider Nutrition and Pharmative. Meanwhile, Medicis Pharmaceutical filed sued Perrigo last week for alleged patent violation over Vanos. Perrigo had filed to market a generic version of the drug under provision 4 of the Hatch-Waxman Act, which aims at providing incentives for generic drug companies to appeal the validity of patents. The law offers an exclusive marketing license for six months to the first generic company to appeal successfully the length of the validity of a patent. Vanos is a steroid-based cream for relieving inflammations and itching due to skin diseases in patients over age 12. Sales of the medication at the price of the brand drugamounted to $27 million during the 12 months that ended in April, according to the Wolters Kluwer Health research agency. Vanos is protected by two patents, valid until December 2021 and January 2023. Medicis' suit will prevent Perrigo from marketing the generic version of the medication for 30 months or until it wins the patent case - the earlier of the two. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Fo shizzle ma nizzle American rapper Snoop Dogg slated to perform in Ramat Gan. Late date Scientists revive 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada.

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