Thousand Oaks biotech firm amgen announced today that it will acquire Dublin-based drugmaker Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion in cash — the largest pharma merger this year.
“The acquisition of Horizon is a compelling opportunity for Amgen and one that is consistent with our strategy of delivering long-term growth by providing innovative medicines that address the needs of patients who suffer from serious diseases,” Robert A Bradwaychairman and chief executive officer of Amgen, said in a statement.
Horizon’s portfolio consists of treatments for rare diseases, gout, thyroid eye disease and more. The company’s stock rocketed up more than $15 today, closing at $112.36.
“Amgen’s decades of leadership in inflammation and nephrology, combined with our global presence and world-class biologics capabilities, will enable us to reach many more patients with first-in-class medicines like Tepezza, Krystexxa and Uplinza,” Bradway added in a statement .
In addition to strengthening and complimenting its own portfolio of therapeutics, Amgen said in a statement that the acquisition will also generate cash flow and accelerate revenue growth.
“The acquisition provides Amgen with access to a promising pipeline behind Horizon’s rare disease products that could supplement Amgen’s growth in the second half of this decade,” Ahmed Enanypresident and chief executive of the Southern California Biomedical Councilwrote in an email.
In terms of size, the closest pharma acquisition to Amgen’s acquisition of Horizon this year was Johnson&Johnson‘s acquisition of Abiomed for $16.6 billion.
Comments are closed.