New Jersey-based cancer drug maker company, Celgene Corp., is reportedly acquiring San Diego County biotech company Receptos Inc. for $7.32 billion in cash. Along with the multibillion merger deal is the highly-anticipated drug for multiple sclerosis and ulcerative colitis called Ozanimod, which is in the Phase 3 trial for multiple sclerosis.
Based from the 12 percent premium from Tuesday's closing price, Celgene Corp. agreed to pay $232 per share for Receptos Inc. The San Diego Union-Tribune revealed that the $7.32 billion excluded Receptos' cash on hand.
The acquisition is considered one of the largest local biotech purchases, but it's still a bit smaller compared to Carlsbad's Life Technologies and Thermo Fisher Scientific $13.6 billion merger last year.
Receptos Inc.'s CEO Faheem Hasnain is one of the most respected leader in the industry. Prior to being the company's highest-ranking boss, Hasnain led Facet Biotech, which Abbott Laboratories acquired for $450 million in March 2010. Facet is the developer of the multiple sclerosis injectable drug Zenapax while Receptos' Ozanimod is taken orally.
"Ozanimod is a potentially transformational oral therapy that has demonstrated robust clinical activity in trials," Celgene said in a statement.
Celgene Corp. employs several hundred people in San Diego. As said by the company's spokesperson Greg Geissman, the workers performs early stage research on developing potential new drugs. Receptos Inc., on the other hand, only employs 68 people. Though Celgene showed interest in keeping the company's employees, it still unclear how many will be retained.
"We're very excited about this," Geissman said. "This is a great opportunity for us to continue to bolster this inflammation and immunology franchise."
Moreover, the Receptos acquisition will definitely boost Celgene's portfolio of immune-inflammatory disease treatments with the addition of Ozamoid. Thus, Celgene is increasing its financial targets for 2020, aiming a net product sales of over $21 billion, Market Watch reported.
In spite of the fact that Receptos Inc. does not have any approved drugs on the market, Celgene Corp. is hopeful that the acquisition will pave the way for them to develop promising and sophisticated cancer and autoimmune disease treatments, USA Today Money noted.
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