BMS buys Kosan for $190M

Bristol-Myers Squibb is adding two oncology drugs to its pipeline with the acquisition of Kosan Biosciences. The company is paying $5.50 per share in cash for Kosan and gains two anticancer agents: novel Hsp90 (heat shock protein 90) inhibitors and epothilones.

"Kosan has done great work advancing two classes of novel anticancer medicines: epothilones and Hsp90 inhibitors," said Elliott Sigal, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president and chief scientific officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "Epothilones are microtubule stabilizers with multiple therapeutic applications in various cancers and potentially in neurodegenerative diseases. The Hsp90 program includes a Phase III compound for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma, an area of high unmet medical need."

- see the buyout announcement for more