Consumer giant Kimberly-Clark, which makes Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, is buying the company that makes Tylenol and Band-Aids in one of the biggest mergers of the year.

The deal, worth almost $49 billion, comes at a particularly difficult time for Tylenol-maker Kenvue, after the Trump administration linked acetaminophen — the active ingredient in this common painkiller — to autism . The assertions came despite a lack of clear scientific evidence, and Kenvue has called them simply false.

For Kimberly-Clark, the deal adds a new swath of consumer brands. Besides Tylenol, Kenvue also owns other pharmacy mainstays such as Band-Aid, Listerine, Neutrogena and Aveeno.

Kimberly-Clark CEO Mike Hsu said in Monday's announcement , that the two "iconic companies" would create "a global

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