New York, Apr 16: Pfizer Inc. said on Wednesday it has completed its $57 billion acquisition of rival Pharmacia Corp., creating the world's leading pharmaceuticals powerhouse, larger than its closest rival Britain's GlaxoSmithKline Plc. Based on current share prices, the combined company boasted a market capitalisation of about $255 billion as of Tuesday, making it the world's third-largest firm by market capitalisation.

Pfizer, whose acquisition was cleared by US antitrust regulators on Monday, said the combined company will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the symbol.
Patients will receive more than one billion prescriptions a year for the enlarged company's medicines, said Pfizer in a joint statement.
New York-based Pfizer, a maker of erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, struck its merger deal with Pharmacia in July 2002, setting in motion a wide-ranging global anti-trust clearance process. Bureau Report