Continuing the tax inversion trend among US-based companies in the life sciences sector, Salix Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy the Ireland-domiciled subsidiary of Italian speciality pharmaceutical company Cosmo Pharmaceuticals in an all-stock deal valued at approximately US$2.7 B. The deal will lower Salix’s effective long-term tax rate from the high 30% range at present to the low 20% range and will give the company ownership of Cosmo’s US patents for three gastrointestinal products, including Uceris® (budesonide) for ulcerative colitis.