By Steven Scheer
TEL AVIV, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Mylan will likely winits bid to take over Irish-based generic drugmaker Perrigo Co, but if the bid fails the company can live withoutseeking an alternative acquisition, its chairman said onWednesday.
Mylan made an offer for Perrigo in April, which wasrejected, and went hostile in September with its $25 billionall-share offer. Perrigo shareholders have until Nov. 13 toaccept. Under Irish takeover rules, Mylan needs 80 percent ofshareholders' votes to take control of Perrigo.
Chairman Robert Coury said Mylan should receive at least 50percent and Mylan will run Perrigo as a separate entity if itreceives more than 50 percent but less than 80 percent.
"As long as Mylan's share price is going up the opportunitybecomes larger and larger and larger," Coury told reporters inIsrael, where Mylan's shares began trading on Wednesday.
"People don't tender until the last 24 hours so we havequite a very very strong chance for a lot of activity in thelast week."
Coury said that while the purchase of Perrigo was good forboth companies, Mylan can survive without it. "We don't needacquisitions," he said, pointing to the very strong marketposition of EpiPen, its biggest-selling branded product, which treats emergency anaphylactic reactions to allergens.
"The EpiPen situation couldn't have come at a more opportunetime," he said, referring to a recall of rival Auvi-Q injectorsmade by Sanofi.
He also expressed doubt that a generic version of EpiPen byIsrael's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries would come tomarket by 2016, if ever.
In addition he said Mylan is hoping for a fast trackapproval process by U.S. regulators for its generic version ofGlaxoSmithKline's asthma treatment Advair.
Mylan will apply to the Food & Drug Administration by theend of the year and believes a launch of the generic version ofAdvair could be possible in 2017.
"I will absolutely continue to look at M&A stuff but not asa requirement - as something that could be additive as part ofour longer term strategy," he said.
Coury added that Mylan also expects to launch a genericversion of Teva's multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone in 2016.
Despite a legal challenge by Perrigo, shares in Mylan made their debut on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange onWednesday, rising 1.9 percent. It is the second-biggest companyby market value on the bourse and in January is expected to jointhe blue-chip TA-25 index.
"Israel is a natural next step for our (global) expansion,"Coury said, citing the country's high-tech and biotechexpertise. "This is my first (dual-listing). It's the rightplace to do it given the size of what I am doing with Perrigo. Iam going to watch and see the benefits, or not, ofdual-listing." (Editing by Greg Mahlich)