Jazz Divests Women's Health Suite

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc ( JAZZ - Snapshot Report ) recently completed the sale of its women's health business to Meda Pharmaceuticals Inc., the US subsidiary of Meda AB.

Per the terms of the agreement that was first announced in September, Meda acquired a portfolio of six out of eight drugs from Jazz Pharma’s women’s health business for $95 million in cash. As per the agreement, Meda also paid an additional amount for the purchase of certain inventory from Jazz Pharma.

At the time of first announcing the deal in September, Meda had said that it would offer employment to approximately 60 employees of Jazz Pharma to join its work force. However, no mention was made in the latest press release regarding this.

The drugs divested by Jazz Pharma include Elestrin (treatment of hot flushes in menopausal women), Gastrocrom, Natelle One (prenatal vitamin), AVC Cream, Gesticare DHA (prenatal multi-vitamin) and Urelle (urinary antiseptic). Jazz Pharma reported net sales of $30.4 million in 2011 from the above mentioned portfolio of six drugs.

The company is also expected to book a non-recurring profit in the fourth quarter this year, as the sale of the women’s health business is now completed.

The sale of the women’s health business should allow Jazz Pharma to focus on its core areas like narcolepsy, oncology, pain and psychiatry. However, these markets are highly competitive with the presence of big companies like Teva Pharmaceutical ( TEVA - Analyst Report ) , Roche Holdings AG ( RHHBY ) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company ( BMY - Analyst Report ) .

Currently, we have a Neutral recommendation on Jazz Pharmaceuticals.