Content about MONTREAL

MONTREAL — The Food and Drug Administration approval this week of a generic genital herpes ointment made by Mylan could make a slight dent in the stock price of the company that makes the branded version.

Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said that while it expected Mylan to receive approval for a generic version of Zovirax (acyclovir) ointment, it did not include the approval in its original budget expectations and thus expected its earnings per share in fiscal year 2013 to be reduced by 30 to 40 cents.

MONTREAL — Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has acquired rights to a drug used to treat a symptom of age-related macular degeneration, the drug maker said.

Valeant announced that it acquired the injected drug Visudyne (verteporfin) from QLT, a company based in Vancouver, Canada.

Valeant said it paid $62.5 million upfront for all U.S. rights and available inventories for the drug, which had U.S. sales of about $21 million in 2011, and another $50 million upfront for rights to non-U.S. sales, which were about $14 million.

MONTREAL — Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is buying Medicis Pharmaceutical for $2.6 billion, Valeant said Monday.

The $44-per-share deal, which the companies said represents a 39% premium over the closing price of Medicis' shares on Friday, is expected to close in the first half of 2013.

MONTREAL — Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is acquiring "certain assets" of a drug maker based in Mexico.

Valeant said Wednesday that it would buy gastric, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs from branded generics manufacturer Atlantis Pharma for $71 million. The products had sales of $26 million last year.

MONTREAL — A new probiotic formula that features added vitamins has entered the market.

ProbioKid Vita+, developed by Institut Rosell-Lallemand, combines a synbiotic formula of probiotic strains — Lactobacillus helveticus Rosell-52, Bifidobacterium bifidum Rosell-71 and Bifidobacterium infantis Rosell-33 — and a prebiotic (fructooligosaccharide, or FOS) with vitamins C and D. The product is designed to boost kids' immunity in the winter, the company said.

ProbioKid Vita+ recently was unveiled at the Vitafoods Europe trade show in Geneva.

MONTREAL — Mega Brands has entered a deal with Saban Brands to develop construction toys based on the kids' action series "Power Rangers Samurai," the latest Power Rangers franchise.

The Mega Bloks Power Rangers Samurai construction toy sets will launch in spring 2012, Mega Brands said. Mega Brands chief innovative officer Vic Bertrand said the new toys will offer fans "an engaging and immersive building experience."

New episodes of the "Power Rangers Samurai" series premiere Saturdays at noon on Nickelodeon.

MONTREAL A study presented last month before the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress determined that the branded probiotic ProbioKid reduced infectious events in children by 25% during the winter period, as compared with a placebo. The study was conducted during the winter of 2006-2007 and involved 135 healthy, school-aged children who had suffered from at least three episodes of ear-nose-throat, bronchopulmonary or gastric disorder during the course of the previous winter.

MONTREAL Care offered to patients improved when physicians collaborated with community pharmacists, according to a Canadian study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Researchers at the Universite de Montreal and McGill University focused on patients with high cholesterol at risk for developing cardiovascular disease, recruiting 77 physicians, 108 pharmacists and 225 patients.