Sept. 1—Shionogi & Co., the Japanese maker of Crestor, has purchased Sciele Pharma, an Atlanta-based pharma company, reportedly for access to its sales force. The $1.4 billion price point is 16 times higher than estimated 2008 earnings. Shionogi has three products, for obesity, skin disease, and HIV, that it expects to begin selling in the U.S. by 2012. Shionogi’s president says the Sciele sales force has “high productivity.” Bloomberg