Roche's proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of Genentech [1] is being viewed as a model marriage of a Big Pharma company focused on molecular diagnostics and a Big Biotech company designing new genetic therapies for an era of personalized medications.

The $43.7 billion offer is seen as a bold move by Roche's new CEO, Severin Schwan [2] (photo [3]). And Schwan is insisting that the offer has nothing to do with finding ways to bolster profits through cost-cutting maneuvers.

"Now is a good time to take Genentech private,'" Schwan told BusinessWeek in a telephone interview. "This transaction is about strengthening innovation; it is not about cost-cutting."  

- read the article [4] from BusinessWeek

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