Valeant has scooped up Medicis Pharmaceutical's product portfolio and pipeline of dermatology drugs, creating a new subsidiary for itself in the $2.6 billion acquisition. And Valeant ($VRX) has already scoped out $225 million in cost "synergies" it plans to weed out of the newly acquired subsidiary within 6 months.
Valeant--a well-known bargain hunter in biopharma circles--is paying $44 a share for Medicis, which includes a half dozen branded products and a package of partnered therapies still in development. That's a 39% premium for Medicis CEO Jonah Shacknai, who's had to endure a year of speculation about the bizarre death of his girlfriend at his Los Angeles mansion, which occurred just days after the death of his son Max.
"Our board of directors believes this compelling all-cash transaction demonstrates the value our employees have created and the strength of our brand in the specialty pharmaceutical market," Shacknai noted in a statement. "We look forward to combining our portfolio of products with Valeant, and we are confident that the combined portfolio under the Medicis name will be well positioned to capitalize on meaningful opportunities in the growing dermatology and aesthetics markets."
Medicis spent more than $68 million on R&D for new dermatology and aesthetics therapies last year, up substantially from the $44 million recorded for 2010. About a quarter of that 2011 expense was recorded for milestone payments to partners. But Medicis never did a lot of research deals. One of its last recorded pacts involved a partnership with Anacor to develop a new acne treatment.
The deal leaves the Medicis subsidiary based in Scottsdale, AZ, with R&D operations in Scottsdale, Canada and Petaluma, CA.
- here's the press release
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