LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline hasagreed to sell two meningitis vaccines to Pfizer tosatisfy antitrust concerns after its recent acquisition ofvaccines business of Novartis.
The British drugmaker said on Monday that the totalconsideration for the sale of its Nimenrix and Mencevax productsto Pfizer's Irish unit, including some deferred payments, was115 million euros ($131 million).
GSK agreed to sell the two older vaccines, which aremarketed outside the United States and had combined sales lastyear of 34 million pounds ($54 million), to meet concerns raisedby the European Commission and other antitrust regulators.
Meningitis vaccines were an issue for competitionauthorities because GSK acquired two rival products fromNovartis, known as Menveo and Bexsero.
The sale to Pfizer is expected to be completed before theend of the year. ($1 = 0.8808 euros)($1 = 0.6323 pounds) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Goodman)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)