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(Adds approval of GlaxoSmithKline deals with Novartis)
WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust regulators onWednesday approved a pair of major deals in the medical field,including Medtronic's purchase of Covidien, which will allow itto take advantage of tax breaks in Ireland.
The Federal Trade Commission said it would allow medicaltechnology company Medtronic Inc's $42.9 billion deal tobuy Dublin-based Covidien Plc on condition that it sellits drug-coated balloon catheter business.
The commission also approved two parts of a three-way dealbetween GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Novartis AG,which reflects an industry trend in which companies focus ontheir strongest businesses.
The transaction, announced in April, calls for Britain's GSKto buy most of the vaccines business of Novartis, the Swisscompany to purchase GSK's cancer drugs, and the two groups toteam up in consumer healthcare.
The FTC approved the vaccines portion of the deal and theconsumer healthcare part on the condition that Novartis sell itsHabitrol nicotine patch, the companies said on Wednesday.
Novartis and GSK, which has Nicoderm CQ, are two of onlythree companies that sell nicotine patches to U.S. retailers,the FTC said.
The FTC's approval of the Covidien deal takesMinnesota-based Medtronic a step closer to moving to Ireland,where it could have access to revenues earned outside the UnitedStates without paying U.S. taxes on them.
The merger, which was announced in June, will create acompany close in size to the medical device business of industryleader Johnson & Johnson.
The European Union and China must still approve the deal,while Canada approved it on Wednesday, Medtronic said.
Medtronic, which makes defibrillators, spinal implants,insulin pumps and other products, said previously that itexpected the deal to close in early 2015.
Medtronic is the world's largest stand-alone medical devicemaker, with a market value of more than $60 billion, whileCovidien's products are used in a range of surgical procedures.
Colorado-based Spectranetics Corp will purchaseCovidien's drug-coated catheter business, the FTC said. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and LisaVon Ahn)
