Biovail to close plants, take charges, mull sales

TORONTO, May 8 (Reuters) - Biovail Corp (BVF.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) (BVF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday that it planned to close two of its operations in Puerto Rico, resulting in charges of $80 million to $100 million in the next few quarters.

Canada's biggest publicly traded drugmaker also said it was exploring the sale of some non-core assets. It plans to spend $600 million in research and development of new treatments through to 2012. ($1=$1.00 Canadian) (Reporting by Scott Anderson)