Alex Philippidis Senior News Editor Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
Who bought who last year? Find out here.
How do you feel when you hear the word “merger”? Some people hear a cashbox “cha-ching!” in their heads and ponder what new enhancements the buying company will add to the purchased company’s products; others cringe and wonder how much longer the lines at the unemployment office will get. Whether you jump for joy or quiver in terror at the thought of another M&A, you still want to know when they happen and which were the biggest ones—and that’s where this list comes in.
GEN has compiled a list of the top 25 merger and acquisition deals in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and molecular diagnostics that were completed or announced in 2012, as announced by the companies involved. Some deals include footnotes breaking down the components of the deal price, such as upfront and milestone payments. Premium is the percentage above the closing price on the last day a stock traded shares before the announcement of an M&A deal.
#25. YM Biosciences
Acquired by: Gilead Sciences
Price: $510 million
Deal Announced: Dec. 12
Premium: 81%
#24. Proximagen Group
Acquired by: Upsher-Smith Laboratories
Price: $573.8 million1
Deal Completed: Aug. 14
Premium: 16%
#23. Amdipharm
Acquired by: Mercury Pharma
Price: $591 million2
Deal Announced: Oct. 15
Premium: N/A
#22. Taro Pharmaceuticals
Acquired by: Sun Pharmaceuticals
Price: $600 million3
Deal Announced: Aug. 13
Premium: -3.6%
#21. Mustafa Nevzat Pharma
Acquired by: Amgen
Price: $700 million
Deal Completed: June 12
Premium: N/A
#20. EUSA Pharma
Acquired by: Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Price: $710 million4
Deal Completed: June 12
Premium: N/A
#19. Mercury Pharma
Acquired by: Cinven
Price: $748.7 million5
Deal Completed: Sept. 3
Premium: N/A
#18. Healthpoint Biotherapeutics
Acquired by: Smith & Nephew
Price: $782 million
Deal Completed: Dec. 24
Premium: N/A
#17. URL Pharma
Acquired by: Takeda Pharmaceutical
Price: $800 million6
Deal Completed: June 4
Premium: N/A
#16. Pronova BioPharma
Acquired by: BASF
Price: $868 million7
Deal Announced: Nov. 217
Premium: 24%
#15. One Lambda
Acquired by: Thermo Fisher Scientific
Price: $925 million
Deal Completed: Sept. 13
Premium: N/A
#14. Avila Therapeutics
Acquired by: Celgene
Price: $925 million8
Deal Completed: March 8
Premium: N/A
#13. Micromet
Acquired by: Amgen
Price: $1.16 billion
Deal Completed: March 7
Premium: 33%
#12. Ardea
Acquired by: AstraZeneca
Price: $1.26 billion
Deal Completed: June 19
Premium: 54%
#11. Fougera
Acquired by: Novartis
Price: $1.525 billion
Deal Completed: July 23
Premium: N/A
#10. Par Pharmaceuticals
Acquired by: TPG Capital
Price: $1.9 billion
Deal Completed: Sept. 28
Premium: 37%
#9. Dako
Acquired by: Agilent Technologies
Price: $2.2 billion
Deal Completed: June 21
Premium: N/A
#8. Inhibitex
Acquired by: Bristol-Myers Squibb
Price: $2.5 billion
Deal Completed: Feb. 13
Premium: 163%
#7. Medicis
Acquired by: Valeant Pharmaceuticals
Price: $2.6 billion
Deal Completed: Dec. 11
Premium: 39%
#6. Boston Biomedical
Acquired by: Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma
Price: $2.63 billion9
Deal Completed: April 24
Premium: N/A
#5. Human Genome Sciences
Acquired by: GlaxoSmithKline
Price: $3 billion
Deal Completed: Aug. 3
Premium: 99%
#4. Gen-Probe
Acquired by: Hologic
Price: $3.8 billion
Deal Completed: Aug. 1
Premium: 20%
#3. Amylin Pharmaceuticals
Acquired by: Bristol-Myers Squibb
Price: $5.3 billion10
Deal Completed: Aug. 8
Premium: 101%
#2. Actavis Group
Acquired by: Watson Pharmaceuticals11
Price: $5.547 billion11
Deal Completed: Oct. 31
Premium: N/A
#1. Pharmasset
Acquired by: Gilead Sciences
Price: $11.2 billion
Deal Completed: Jan. 17
Premium: 90%
Notes:
1 Upsher-Smith agreed to pay Proximagen £223 million up-front plus up to £133.8 million tied to development milestones for two drug candidates, obesity drug PRX00933 and a VAP-1 antagonist for rheumatoid arthritis. Figures converted to USD via XE on Jan. 3, 2013.
2 Figures converted from announced purchase price of £367 million via XE on Jan. 3, 2013. Cinven said Oct. 15 it planned over time to merge Amdipharm with Mercury Pharma.
3 Sun has offered to acquire, at $39.50 per share, the remaining 33.5% of Taro shares not already owned by Sun.
4 Jazz Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay Eusa Pharma $650 million up-front, about $30 million up-front toward working capital, cash and certain liabilities; plus an up-to-$50 million milestone payment tied to lead product Erwinaze™ (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi) achieving an undisclosed U.S. net sales target in 2013.
5 Converted from announced purchase price of £465 million via XE on Jan. 3, 2013. Cinven acquired Mercury Pharma from Hg Capital Trust.
6 Takeda agreed to pay URL Pharma $800 million upfront, plus an undisclosed amount in milestone payments related to performance.
7 Converted from announced purchase price of EUR NOK 4.845 billion via XE on Jan. 3, 2013. On Dec. 20, 2012, BASF said it would extend its offer for ProNova BioPharma until Jan. 18, 2013.
8 Celgene agreed to pay Avila Therapeutics $350 million up-front, plus up to $575 million in milestone payments related to AVL-292, a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor candidate, and candidates from Avila’s discovery program.
9 Dainippon Sumitomo agreed to pay Boston Biomedical $200 million up-front, up to $540 million in development milestone payments for its two clinical-stage programs—BBI608 for colorectal cancer and BBI503 for advanced solid tumors—and up to $1.89 billion in milestone payments tied to achievement of several undisclosed net sales targets, the last payment tied to net sales of greater than $4 billion in any fiscal year.
10 The value of the deal swells to $7 billion when Amylin’s net debt and a contractual payment obligation to Eli Lilly & Co. totaling $1.7 billion are included.
11 Watson changed its name to Actavis on Jan. 1, 2013. Figures converted from announced purchase price of €4.25 billion via XE on Jan. 3, 2013.