Pharma's biotech buyout spree to continue

Don't look for an end to biotech buyouts anytime soon, says the AP. Quoting a string of experts in the field, the article concludes that there's still a lot of pharma money out there in pursuit of new therapies. And that will continue to drive new buyout deals like the multibillion-dollar offers we've seen recently for Genentech and ImClone.

"There's a fair bit of money in the industry today, almost creating a pent-up capacity to do deals," said Deloitte's Terry Hisey.

Biotech's allure is clear to just about everyone in the market. These new drugs are more complex and don't face near-term generic competition. But with deals focused on pipeline drugs, valuations have to rely on an educated guess about what their commercial value would be if approved.

--read the AP story [1]

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