Roche to acquire Drug Maker InterMune for $8.3 Billion
The Swiss drug maker Roche is buying InterMune, a specialist in treatments for breathing diseases, for $8.3 billion, as pharmaceutical firms continue to seek new products to bolster their offerings.
The Swiss drug maker Roche agreed on Sunday to buy InterMune — which sells a drug to treat a deadly lung disease — for $8.3 billion, as pharmaceutical companies continue to seek new products to bolster their offerings.
The price, $74 a share, represents a 38 percent premium to InterMune’s closing price on Friday.
The acquisition was announced during a flurry of pharmaceutical deals and attempted deals. Among other around $87 billion in pharmaceutical acquisitions that were made in the first half of this year.
InterMune, which is still not profitable, sells pirfenidone under the name Esbriet in Europe and Canada, where it received regulatory approval in 2011 and 2012. The drug could receive approval in the United States by Nov. 23.
“We are obviously focused on high unmet medical needs and looking for medicines that make a significant difference clinically, and this clearly fits that bill,” Daniel O’Day, who runs Roche’s pharmaceutical business, said in an interview on Sunday.
He said the acquisition would strengthen its portfolio of drugs for respiratory diseases.
The merger is expected to close by year end. Mr. O’Day declined to say if there would be layoffs, though he said the main purpose of the merger was “growth synergies.”
Citigroup and the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Roche. Centerview Partners, Goldman Sachs and the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore advised InterMune.
Source: NYT
