Clearing the way to focus more on its prescription drug business, Pfizer has agreed to sell its OTC division to Johnson & Johnson for $16.6 billion in cash. The OTC therapies include such market stalwarts as Sudafed and Visine and collectively earned $3.9 billion in revenue last year. J&J also won the OTC rights to Zyrtec when it loses patent protection. Pfizer also said it would buy back up to $17 billion in shares. Shares of Pfizer were buoyed slightly be the news.
- here's the AP report on the sale