17/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - On 17 July 2009, the European Commission cleared the planned acquisition of Stiefel Laboratories Inc., a US--based pharmaceutical company, by GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) of the UK. The Commission's investigation showed that the relevant horizontal overlaps between the activities of GSK and Stiefel are limited to a number of products in the dermatological sector and that, for these products, the combined firm would continue to face several strong, effective competitors with significant market shares. (C.D.)