Co Kildare company in biggest merger of the year with US pharmaceutical giant

A leading Co Kildare  company is set to link with US pharmaceutical giant Allergan in what is being viewed as  the largest ever deal in the healthcare sector.

Newbridge based Pfizer will be linking with Allergan, a producer of Botox along with many other products.

Widely used Pfizer drugs such as Lipitor, Viagra and nerve pain treatment Lyrica would be brought together with Allergan's Namenda memory loss treatment, Restasis dry eye medication and other leading eye-care brands.

It would be the biggest merger of the year, topping beer maker Anheuser-Busch InBev's proposed $107 billion takeover of SABMiller Plc. And it would realize Read's longtime ambition of an inversion deal that would get Pfizer out from under the 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate, among the world's highest. The tax rate in Ireland is 12.5 percent.

North Kildare Chamber President, Allan Shine, said: "The joining of forces of these 2 multi nationals will result in a new global biopharmaceutical company with a very strong Kildare base.   The Kildare base will play a crucial role."