Icn Pharmaceuticals Inc

Drug maker ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Tuesday it is raising its quarterly dividend to 8 cents per share from 7.7 cents per share, payable April 23 to shareholders of record April 9.

Roche Holding settled a dispute with ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Ribapharm Inc. over patents for the hepatitis C drug ribavirin, which the Swiss drug maker uses with one of its products. The companies will stop all legal action over ribavirin, and Roche will license the drug from Ribapharm, the Swiss drug maker said. Roche will continue to register and market its own version of ribavirin, called Copegus, worldwide. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in Costa Mesa, said it had sold its Personal Radiation Dosimetry Service Division to Global Dosimetry Solutions Inc. for $58 million in cash. ICN's dosimetry unit produces badges that workers wear to monitor radiation exposure. Ronald D. White

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Galenika Yugoslavia unit would be allowed to resume export operations if United Nations sanctions are lifted against that country. The Costa Mesa drug maker said ICN Galenika's export operations were valued at $30 million to $40 million before the imposition of the sanctions.

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. plans to issue $200 million in senior notes through a private placement to help repay debts and finance acquisitions. The drug company said it expects the transaction to close in August.

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Wednesday that it has acquired a biomedical division of Akzo Nobel N.V. in The Netherlands. Terms were not disclosed. The Cappel Products division will be merged with ICN's biomedical research products unit, the Costa Mesa pharmaceutical concern said. Cappel, a division of Akzo Nobel subsidiary Organon Teknika, had sales of about $4 million last year.

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Costa Mesa said it acquired three prescription products from Wyeth-Pharma GmbH and plans to launch them in Germany. Financial terms were not disclosed. Wyeth-Pharma is an affiliate of American Home Products Corp.

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., moving to expand its Internet business, said it will begin selling over-the-counter drugs to retail customers and expand business-to-business services. The Costa Mesa drug manufacturer said it will upgrade its Web offerings for such business services as ordering drugs and checking the status of orders. The estimated costs of the expansion were not disclosed.