Israeli drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Friday that Canadian antitrust regulators have cleared the company's acquisition of Ratiopharm, owned by the Merckle family.

Teva in March beat out rivals Pfizer and Actavis to acquire German generic drug maker Ratiopharm GmbH in a deal worth some euro3.6 billion, or nearly $5 billion. The deal gives Teva a lofty perch in the lucrative German generic market and marks the company's second big acquisition in two years.

Teva shares closed earlier up $1.68, or 3.6 percent, at $48.85.