Johnson & Johnson agrees to buy Alza for $10.5 billion in stock

Tuesday, March 27th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Health care giant Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it plans to buy drug delivery specialist Alza Corp. for $10.5 billion in stock that analysts said will make it cheaper for J&J to find the most effective ways for patients to take its drugs.

Alza, based in Mountain View, Calif., developed the technology for the best-selling Nicoderm nicotine patches sold by GlaxoSmithKline. It also makes time-released capsules that allow people to take fewer pills and systems that use electricity to push drugs through skin.

The purchase by New Brunswick, N.J.-based maker of Band-Aids and Tylenol had been rumored for weeks.

The companies said in a statement Tuesday that their boards had approved the deal and hope to complete it in the July-September quarter. It is subject to approval by Alza shareholders and by regulators in the U.S. and Europe.