Winning an apparent bidding war, drug maker
Abbvie apparently beat out other companies, including
As Pharmacyclics' (PCYC) flagship product, Imbruvica has already been approved in more than 40 countries for blood cancer treatments that include a form of leukemia and a rare lymphoma. It generated more than $540 million in global sales last year, Pharmacyclics said.
Abbvie said the transaction was valued at $261.25 per Pharmacyclics' share, valuing the deal at $21 billion. Shares of Pharmacyclics were up 6 percent, or nearly $14 a share to about $230 a share in trading late Wednesday afternoon on the Nasdaq.
Imbruvica, which is an oral pill that costs patients and their insurers about $100,000 a year, is projected by some analysts to reach more than $3 billion in annual sales within the next three years. The drug is already approved to treat several blood cancers.
"Imbruvica received initial U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2013 and is the only therapy to have received three breakthrough therapy designations by the FDA," Abbvie said in a statement announcing the deal, which Abbvie said has been approved by boards of directors of both companies.
For Abbvie, the Pharmacyclics and its pipeline are needed to fill a potential coming void when its blockbuster autoimmune drug Humira, which accounts for more than 60 percent of company sales, faces competition from cheaper “generic” biologics known as biosimilars. The multi-billion dollar Humira is one of the world's top selling drugs.
“The acquisition of Pharmacyclics is a strategically compelling opportunity,” Abbvie chairman and CEO Richard Gonzalez said. “Its flagship product, Imbruvica, is not only complementary to AbbVie’s oncology pipeline, it has demonstrated strong clinical efficacy across a broad range of hematologic malignancies and raised the standard of care for patients.”
The deal comes less than three years after
