Contraceptive Conjugation

The intuitive appeal of Barr Laboratories' pooling-of-interest stock-swap acquisition of Duramed Pharmaceuticals is so clear that the temptation is to ask "What took so long?" The new Barr will offer a broad line of generic oral contraceptive products. Duramed also brings to Barr a formidable physician detailing force. Barr has built up a war chest by developing formulations and successfully challenging the validity of patents. Duramed, however, never recovered from its battle over the right to introduce a generic version of AHP's conjugated estrogens, Premarin. Now, with its legal, regulatory, and governmental affairs capabilities, Barr may re-open the Premarin case.