Life Technologies inks $725M deal for Ion Torrent

Arming itself for a looming showdown with Illumina over the booming market for second-generation gene sequencing technologies, Life Technologies struck a deal to buy Ion Torrent for $375 million in cash and stock with $350 million more on the line based on a series of milestones. The deal gives Life Technologies a shot at introducing a gene sequencing device later this year that will be sold for less than $100,000, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. A variety of companies have been...

BioMarin snares orphan drug upstart in $115M buyout

Continuing its year-long buying spree, BioMarin Pharmaceutical has agreed to pay up to $115 million to snare ZyStor Therapeutics and its preclinical candidate for Pompe disease. BioMarin is slapping down $22 million upfront to seal the deal, which will add an enzyme therapy scheduled to enter the clinic next year. The FDA has already approved ZyStor's IND app for ZC-701. And Novato, CA-based BioMarin, which specializes in orphan diseases, is pumped about its prospects. The deal "not only...

Biotech M&A frenzy shows no sign of slowing

With Genzyme in the news, we've all been hearing plenty about the wave of M&A deals  that's been rolling through the world's life sciences industry. Last year Thomson Reuters tracked more than 1,400 such deals worth $206 billion worldwide, giving the Boston Globe the hard numbers it needs to assert that this is one trend that has yet to crest. The reasons are more than obvious at this stage of the consolidation game. Pharma companies are desperate for new products to replace those big...

Endo buying partner in pain Penwest for $168M

Looking to burnish its reputation in the field of pain therapy, Chadds Ford, PA-based Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) struck a deal to buy out its development partner Penwest Pharmaceuticals for about $168 million on the same day it filed an NDA for a new, abuse-resistant drug. The buyout deal--struck at a price of $5 per share, a 19 percent premium--gives the developer Penwest's interests in Opana ER, a therapy that the two biotech companies have been working on for the past 13 years, along with a...

Lambda snags Biovail’s Toronto CRO

India's Lambda Therapeutic Research has acquired Biovail's Canadian CRO and renamed it Lambda Canada. The 46,000-square-foot research center in Toronto houses 194 beds and a Phase I first-in-human operation. Lambda says it wants to burnish its reputation for developers interested in developing new therapies for the U.S. market....

BrainCells grabs neuropsych therapy in $51M licensing pact

Just six months after gaining control of the mid-stage neuropsychiatric drug sabcomeline through an acquisition of Minster Pharmaceuticals, the UK's Proximagen has inked a deal licensing out its rights to BrainCells for up to $51 million in upfront fees and milestones. Proximagen touted its deal-making skills, but didn't break out how much it will bank from the upfront and how much is being risked on future milestones. San Diego-based BrainCells will now step in and take control of the program,...

Sanofi’s rumored buyout plans inspire guessing game

The scuttlebutt from Bloomberg late last week about Sanofi-Aventis' interest in acquiring an unidentified drug developer in the pricey neighborhood of $20 billion has triggered a fevered new game of name-the-target. For its part, the Wall Street Journal's Michael Corkery ran a slate of five potential developers that fit the general profile: Genzyme ($13 billion market cap); Biogen Idec ($13 billion); Celgene ($23 billion); Gilead Sciences and Amgen. With a market cap of $50 billion,...

Lilly CEO outlines deal strategy to beef up its pipeline

Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter has been making the rounds with financial journalists over the last few days, stressing that the pharma company will bet its future on a new round of deals with biotechs and the $4 billion to $5 billion it spends on R&D each year. And you can immediately discount any rumors you may hear about a big acquisition. "We've seen no evidence that the large combined companies are going to be any more innovative than Eli Lilly currently spending between $4...

On a spree, Sanofi scoops up TargeGen in $635M deal

Continuing its global deal-making spree, Sanofi-Aventis has forged a deal to buy San Diego-based TargeGen for $75 million down and up to $560 million in milestones based on the success of its small molecule kinase inhibitors for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases. The deal gives Sanofi control over TargeGen's lead program, TG 101348, a JAK-2 inhibitor which has completed a multicenter clinical Phase I/II trial in patients with myelofibrosis. Myelofibrosis is characterized by a...

Celgene strikes $2.9B deal to acquire Abraxis

With an eye to burnishing its oncology rep and its already sizable revenue, Celgene has struck a deal to buy Abraxis BioScience for cash and stock totaling $2.9 billion. The buyout gives Celgene control of Abraxane, now approved for breast cancer treatment, along with its discovery platform and a pipeline of experimental therapies. In exchange for every share of Abraxis, Celgene will pay $58 a share in cash and 0.2617 of a share of Celgene. That values Abraxis' shares at $71.93, a 17...