A merger between two pharmaceutical companies may be just what the doctor ordered in this ailing economy.

W. Tinley Anderson III, a partner at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, is advising Sciele Pharma Inc. in its pending $150 million acquisition of Victory Pharma Inc. He said the deal is expected to close in June, pending Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act approval by the Federal Trade Commission.

Sciele will pay cash at closing for Victory. Anderson said Sciele is financing the deal itself, out of funds from operations.

“The interesting thing is that it expands Sciele’s product portfolio to now include pain management as one of its therapeutic areas. It’s a fairly well-known product [Victory] provides called Naprelan,” Anderson said, explaining that Sciele’s focus up to now has been on prescription medications for cardiovascular disease, pediatrics and women’s health. “Sciele certainly has a substantial sales force, much more substantial than the existing sales force at Victory, so it has the distribution channel to maximize the product’s market potential.”

Sciele is an Atlanta-based company that was acquired in October by the publicly traded Shionogi & Co. Ltd., based in Osaka, Japan, in a $1.4 billion deal, Anderson said. Victory Pharma is a San Diego-based private company.

Anderson’s team at Paul Hastings also included associates Michael J. Greene and Clare Y. Arguedas. Sciele’s general counsel, Leslie B. Zacks, also worked on the deal.

Victory was represented by a team of lawyers from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, led by partner Christian A. Salaman.

The past month or so has been active for deals in the pharmaceutical industry. On May 21, Johnson & Johnson announced a definitive agreement to acquire Cougar Biotechnology for $1 billion. Last month Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline announced an agreement to form a company specializing in the development and commercialization of HIV medicines.

“Pharmaceutical companies are feeling the pinch of this economy,” Anderson said, “But people still get sick. People still need medicines. So the pharmaceutical industry is probably one of the few industries that have weathered the recession OK. Their M&A activity stands out.”