GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to buy oncology-focused pharmaceutical company Tesaro Inc. for about $4.16 billion in cash as it looks to expand its oncology pipeline of commercially viable drugs.
The British pharmaceutical company said it would offer $75 a share in cash to Tesaro shareholders, a 62% premium from its share price on last Friday’s close. The deal will also include the assumption of debt.
The Waltham, Mass.-based Tesaro is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that is best known for Zejula, a treatment for ovarian cancer. Zejula is currently approved in both the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of adult patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. The drug has also worked well with chemotherapies regardless of which mutation or biomarker status the patient may carry, the company said in a release.
“The acquisition of Tesaro will strengthen our pharmaceuticals business by accelerating the build of our oncology pipeline and commercial footprint, along with providing access to new scientific capabilities,” said GlaxoSmithKline Chief Executive Emma Walmsley in prepared remarks.
By Kimberly Chin
Source: MarketWatch
The companies will explore opportunities to apply Flagship’s innovative bioplatforms – an ecosystem that currently comprises 41 companies – to scientific challenges in disease areas within cardiometabolic and rare diseases and initiate research programmes based on these.
BD is expanding its long-running partnership with the blood collection company Babson Diagnostics. The two companies have been working together since 2019 on a device that can gather small volumes of blood from the capillaries in the fingertip without requiring any specialized training, and beginning with a focus on supporting primary care in retail settings.
Wednesday, Australian biotech CSL said (PDF) the regulatory review of its $11.7 billion acquisition of Switzerland’s Vifor Pharma will take “a few more months,” suggesting it won’t be able to close the transaction by June 2022 as previously expected.
