Medicis, Graceway deal

Dermatology company Medicis said it will acquire substantially all U.S. and Canadian assets and IP from Graceway after Medicis won a bankruptcy auction with a purchase price of $455 million. Graceway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in September, noting that sales were severely reduced by the sale of a generic version of its Aldara imiquimod cream 5% by Nycomed, which Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4502, Tokyo, Japan) acquired in September. Sales for Aldara decreased to $52.2 million in 2010 from $320.8 million in 2009 according to court documents. Galderma S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland), which had been selected by the bankrupt company to place the first bid, proposed a purchase price of $275 million last September. The deal is subject to approval by Graceway's board and the bankruptcy court (see BioCentury, Oct. 3). ...