GlaxoSmithKline Said to Be Near $3 Bn Deal to Buy Stiefel

GlaxoSmithKline Plc is near an agreement to buy Stiefel Laboratories Inc., a closely held U.S. drugmaker, for about $3 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The transaction may be announced as soon as today, barring any last-minute delays, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman declined to comment. Buying Stiefel, a maker of remedies for skin ailments such as acne and diaper rash, would fit GlaxoSmithKline Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty’s strategy of expanding in consumer products. Adding more vaccines, drugs and consumer treatments will help wean London-based Glaxo off its reliance on one or two bestsellers, Witty said in a Jan. 8 interview. Stiefel received unsolicited buyout offers from Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG and Glaxo, a person familiar with the proposals said last month. Stiefel sought about $4 billion, that person said. Pharmaceutical companies are diversifying into cosmetic health to diminish reliance on traditional drugs for chronic diseases. Pharmaceutical sales in the U.S. grew at the slowest rate in more than 47 years in 2008 after $10 billion worth of medicines lost patent protection, according to data released by IMS Health Inc. Witty said in January he was skeptical of a large acquisition, saying it would threaten to disrupt the company’s revamped drug research and development operations. Since then, two mega-mergers were announced in the industry -- Pfizer Inc.’s $68 billion agreement to buy Wyeth, on Jan. 26, and Merck & Co.’s plan to purchase Schering-Plough Corp. for $41.1 billion, unveiled March 9. Blackstone Group, based in New York, agreed to make a $500 million minority investment in Stiefel in August 2007. A Blackstone spokesman couldn’t be reached late Sunday. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that GlaxoSmithKline was near an agreement to buy Stiefel.