Schering-Plough buys firm for €11bn

SCHERING-PLOUGH has signed a deal to buy Akzo Nobel’s drugs unit, Organon, for $14.4 billion (€10.92bn) in cash.

The move allows Schering-Plough to gain the world’s third-largest maker of birth-control pills and its stable of experimental medicines and provide a steadily growing base of products and businesses with sales of nearly $5bn.

Organon’s trials include medicines for schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, neuromuscular blockages, contraception, infertility, insomnia and hot flashes in menopausal women.