On Monday, pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi (SNY 5.90%) announced that its U.S. Consumer Healthcare Division, Chattem, has acquired the worldwide rights to the Rolaids brand from McNeil-PPC, a division of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ -1.15%).
Calling Rolaids "an iconic brand" already, Chattem CEO Zan Guerry promised to grow the brand even further "through innovation and advertising ... and take the brand to a new level." The company already owns such well-known brands as Icy Hot, Gold Bond, Cortizone-10, Selsun Blue, and Unisom.
Rolaids products were pulled from store shelves in 2010 in response to concerns that some packages of the antacid had been reported to contain "foreign particles," including metal and wood. They have not been available for sale since . Buying the brand from McNeil, Sanofi says it intends to "relaunch" the brand, and begin selling Rolaids again within a year.
Sanofi shares rose 0.2% on the news, to $48.10.
