Valeant to acquire OraPharma in $312 million deal

MONTREAL — Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has agreed to acquire a specialty oral health company that develops and commercializes products that improve and maintain oral health.

Valeant said it is acquiring OraPharma from private equity firm Water Street Healthcare Partners for $312 million. The drug maker also said it will pay $114 million in potential contingent payments based on certain milestones.

"We are excited to enter a new attractive market segment with an already established sales infrastructure focused entirely on the dental community," Valeant chairman and CEO J. Michael Pearson said. "We believe that this market segment has similar characteristics to the dermatology, podiatry and ophthalmology markets and should offer us the opportunity to cross-sell some of our current products, most notably our new topical prescription cold sore medication, Xerese. We believe the OraPharma business is a new growth platform from which to build additional opportunities in the future."

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