Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has outbid Valeant Pharmaceuticals by agreeing to acquire Cephalon for US$81.50 per share in a US$6.8 B deal that has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. Cephalon’s pain management, sleep and oncology drugs will diversify Teva’s portfolio of branded pharmaceuticals and the combined company will have more than 30 late-stage branded products in its development pipeline. The acquisition will help to reduce Teva’s reliance on its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone® (glatiramer acetate), which faces patent expiry in 2014.