Acquisition Will Greatly Expand Mylan's Operations

Mylan Laboratories Inc. announced that is has agreed to buy Merck KGaA's generic-drug unit for $6.7 billion in cash to become the world's third-largest maker of generic versions of drugs. Mylan is headquartered in Canonsburg, Penn., but has major operations in Morgantown. The combination will let Mylan achieve economies of scale in manufacturing and gain access to new markets and products, company officials said. The enlarged company will have 10,000 employees and would have had 2006 sales of about $4.2 billion.