Takeda and Millennium - Billion-dollar deals

Who: Takeda
With Millennium Pharmaceuticals
What: $8.8B buyout

Scoop: With an eye on expanding in the U.S. market--and capitalizing on the weak dollar--Japan's Takeda offered $8.8 billion for Millennium Pharmaceuticals in April. Takeda, which is facing patent expirations for Actos and Prevacid, picked up Millennium's cancer drug Velcade in the deal. The company hopes to turn Velcade into a global blockbuster. Millennium has more than a half billion dollars in revenue last year and also has a number of inflammation and cancer therapies in the pipeline, which addresses Takeda's interest in oncology.

Related Articles:
Takeda makes $8.8B bid for Millennium
Takeda expands R&D budget, may look for buyout
Moody's gives Takeda top-notch rating
Falling dollar, falling drugmaker prices