Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham said this morning that they had received US regulatory clearance for their merger to form the world's largest pharmaceutical group.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the merger on condition that the two companies offload several of their products, the companies said in a statement.
"Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham have now obtained all regulatory clearances required to complete the merger, as expected, on December 27," they added. The drugs giants unveiled their merger in January and said it would create the world's biggest pharmaceuticals group, to be called GlaxoSmithKline.
The European Commission gave regulatory clearance for the merger in May, and shareholders approved the combination in July.
The US authorities want the groups to divest the anti-emetic product Kytril and the anti-viral products Famvir and Vectavir/Denavir. The FTC will also continue looking at the smoking cessation product area following completion of the merger.
Glaxo stock slipped on the news this morning, dipping 0.5% to 1,935.5 pence, but SmithKline stock was unchanged at 880 pence in a stronger overall market.
