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WASHINGTON, Dec 13: US antitrust authorities said they approved Johnson&Johnson's proposed purchase of Pfizer Inc.'s consumer health-care business after the companies agreed to divest four over-the-counter drugs.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it would not oppose the deal as long as the companies sell the drugs Zantac, Cortizone, Unisom and Balmex.

The companies agreed to sell Pfizer's Zantac H-2 blocker business to Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. They also will sell Pfizer's Cortizone hydrocortisone anti-itch business, Pfizer's Unisom sleep aid business, and J&J's Balmex diaper rash treatment to Chattem Inc..

J&J announced plans to buy Pfizer's consumer health-care business for .6 billion in June, giving it well-known brands such as Listerine mouth wash.

The U.S. approval came a day after Johnson&Johnson received conditional clearance for the deal from the European Commission.

J&J said in a statement on Tuesday that the transaction was expected to close by year-end.

The FTC said the combination of the two businesses would have hurt competition in the U.S. product markets for each of the drugs, enabling J&J to raise prices above pre-merger levels.

Boehringer said in October it planned to acquire U.S. rights to the over-the-counter line of Zantac anti-heartburn products from J&J and Pfizer for 9.5 million in cash.

Also in October, Chattem Inc. said it agreed to buy the U.S.

rights to five consumer and over-the-counter brands from Johnson&Johnson and Pfizer for 0 million cash. In addition to the three drugs listed by the FTC, Chattem also acquired the Kaopectate anti-diarrhea product and ACT anti-cavity mouth rinse as part of the deal.

REUTERS