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$AVNR Japan’s Otsuka to buy U.S. drug maker Avanir for $3.5 billion Japanese drugmaker Otsuka Holdings has agreed to buy U.S.-based Avanir Pharmaceuticals for about $3.5 billion, the company announced Tuesday.

The purchase will help expand Otsuka’s neurologic drug lineup ahead of the patent expiration for one of its top drugs Abilify, a treatment for schizophrenia. Once its exclusivity rights end in April 2015, the company will have to fend off generic competition for a drug that brought in $5 billion last year — about 40% of Otsuka’s total sales.

Otsuka will pay $17 a share in cash for Avanir AVNR 0.54% , a 13.3% premium to the drugmaker’s Monday closing price. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter next year.

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