J&J Said to Agree to Acquire Pharmacyclics for Cancer Drug
2015-03-04 22:09:20.952 GMT
By Manuel Baigorri, Matthew Campbell and Dinesh Nair
(Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson has agreed to acquire
cancer-drug maker Pharmacyclics Inc., people with knowledge of
the matter said.
A deal may be announced as soon as Thursday, the people
said, asking not to be identified discussing private
information. Pharmacyclics has a market valuation of about $17.5
billion, after its shares surged about 89 percent so far this
year.
With the purchase, Johnson & Johnson would gain Imbruvica,
an oncology treatment whose sales are expected to grow to $3.56
billion in 2018. The drug is an easy-to-use pill that costs
around $100,000 a year, avoids certain serious side effects of
chemotherapy, and is already approved for four different blood
cancer uses.
Representatives for both companies declined to comment. The
Financial Times earlier said J&J was nearing a deal.
The deal comes with large drugmakers looking to bolster
their pipelines with acquisitions. Novartis AG was also
interested in acquiring Pharmacyclics, people with knowledge of
the matter said last month.
For Related News and Information:
Pharmacyclics Said to Weigh Sale of U.S. Cancer Drugmaker
Cancer Drug Once Bought for $7 Million May Now Fetch $18 Billion
Top Stories:TOP<GO>
--With assistance from Cynthia Koons and Ed Hammond in New York
and Caroline Chen in San Francisco.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Manuel Baigorri in London at +44-20-3525-4457 or
mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;
Matthew Campbell in London at +44-20-3525-8684 or
mcampbell39@bloomberg.net;
Dinesh Nair in London at +44-20-3525-3212 or
dnair5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Mohammed Hadi at +1-212-617-2914 or
mhadi1@bloomberg.net
2015-03-04 22:09:20.952 GMT
By Manuel Baigorri, Matthew Campbell and Dinesh Nair
(Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson has agreed to acquire
cancer-drug maker Pharmacyclics Inc., people with knowledge of
the matter said.
A deal may be announced as soon as Thursday, the people
said, asking not to be identified discussing private
information. Pharmacyclics has a market valuation of about $17.5
billion, after its shares surged about 89 percent so far this
year.
With the purchase, Johnson & Johnson would gain Imbruvica,
an oncology treatment whose sales are expected to grow to $3.56
billion in 2018. The drug is an easy-to-use pill that costs
around $100,000 a year, avoids certain serious side effects of
chemotherapy, and is already approved for four different blood
cancer uses.
Representatives for both companies declined to comment. The
Financial Times earlier said J&J was nearing a deal.
The deal comes with large drugmakers looking to bolster
their pipelines with acquisitions. Novartis AG was also
interested in acquiring Pharmacyclics, people with knowledge of
the matter said last month.
For Related News and Information:
Pharmacyclics Said to Weigh Sale of U.S. Cancer Drugmaker
Cancer Drug Once Bought for $7 Million May Now Fetch $18 Billion
Top Stories:TOP<GO>
--With assistance from Cynthia Koons and Ed Hammond in New York
and Caroline Chen in San Francisco.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Manuel Baigorri in London at +44-20-3525-4457 or
mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;
Matthew Campbell in London at +44-20-3525-8684 or
mcampbell39@bloomberg.net;
Dinesh Nair in London at +44-20-3525-3212 or
dnair5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Mohammed Hadi at +1-212-617-2914 or
mhadi1@bloomberg.net