There are two trans-Atlantic developments to mention in the Big Pharma game of consolidation, and both involve vaccines: As had been expected, Abbott will pay about $7 billion to acquire the drug unit of Solvay, a Belgium conglomerate. Here’s more on that deal from the WSJ . In a release this morning, the U.S. company says the acquisition of the Solvay unit “complements Abbott’s presence and expertise in specialty markets such as cardiovascular disease, neuroscience and gastroenterology” and will allow Abbott to get into the global vaccines market. Abbott and Solvay sell the cholesterol lowering drug fenofibrate together under the brand names Tricor and TriLipix. It was only in July that Abbott CFO Thomas Freyman shot down a report that Abbott was interested in Solvay, saying during the second-quarter earnings call, “We have no interest in expanding our participation in the fenofibrate market.” Meanwhile, J&J will pay roughly $443 million for a stake in Dutch

antibiotic and vaccine maker Crucell, the companies announced this morning. Crucell was one of several European biotechs that had trouble finding a buyer earlier in the year. As you may remember, it was in talks with Wyeth until Wyeth entered its own deal to be bought by Pfizer. With the stake in Crucell, J&J will have a presence in the flu-vaccine market, like GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, notes Bloomberg and the WSJ . And for Crucell, J&J’s stake may mean it can remain independent, an analyst told Bloomberg. Bonus Vaccine Deal: Merck announced this morning that it struck a deal with CSL Biotherapies to be the exclusive distributor of CSL’s seasonal flu vaccine in the U.S. from the 2010/2011 flu season through the 2015/2016 flu season. CSL is also developing a vaccine for swine flu. Image: iStockphoto

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Abbott, J&J Deals to Improve Access to Vaccine Market