Continuing the recent string of biotech buyouts, Forest City, CA-based Gilead Sciences announced that it will acquire Myogen for $2.5 billion in a move designed to bolster Gilead's pulmonary program. Last month Myogen kicked off a Phase III trial of ambrisentan, a pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment and an NDA for the drug is expected later this year. This is the second recent acquisition for Gilead, which recently exercised its option to buy Seattle-based Corus Pharma, a company that focuses on respiratory and infectious diseases, for $365 million.
"Myogen represents a unique scientific and strategic fit with our company, bringing to Gilead a late-stage product candidate that addresses an area of significant unmet medical need and further enhances our growing focus on pulmonology," said Gilead CEO John C. Martin in a press release. "We are excited about the potential of ambrisentan, which we believe could have important clinical benefit over existing therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension." Myogen's shares surged sharply on the news.
- read the report on the buyout from TheStreet.com