Pharmaceutical Companies to Merge

It is expected that Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham will complete their merger on Dec.27, 2000-nearly a year after unveiling their plans to become a conglomerate.

The British drug groups are waiting for approval of the deal from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) before going in front of Britain's High Court next week for final clearance.

GlaxoSmithKline would become the largest pharmaceutical company worldwide by market share, controlling more than 7% of the world market. The first financial results to be reported by GlaxoSmithKline will be for the year ending Dec. 31 and will be announced in February.

The merger was expected to be complete last May; however, the FTC had questions about the companies' combined power in certain markets.

Information from The Wall Street Journal.