J&J to buy Omrix in $438M deal

Johnson & Johnson has struck a deal to buy New York-based Omrix Biopharmaceuticals for $438 million. J&J will pay $25 a share - an 18 percent premium on Friday's close--to buy the company, netting two protein-based therapies that control bleeding in surgery and adding an experimental patch that uses fibrin to form an immediate clot. The J&J subsidiary Ethicon markets the two approved therapeutics and Omrix will report to Ethicon once the merger is completed.

Most of Omrix's research and manufacturing is done in Israel. J&J says it will do business as a standalone operation. Omrix announced in October that its experimental patch proved superior to J&J's Surgicel in a mid-stage trial and a day later suspended the trial to investigate a case of post-operative bleeding. The trial was later resumed without modification.

"Omrix and Ethicon have enjoyed a solid partnership for the past five years," says CEO Robert Taub. "As a formally unified entity, our successful distribution and development agreements will evolve into an even more attractive long-term growth strategy."

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