ARTICLE | Finance
Ebb & Flow
May 25, 2009 7:00 AM UTC
In just six years, Cougar Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ:CGRB) has managed to turn a Phase I prostate cancer candidate, a reverse merger and $138 million into a $1 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). The pharma made a tender offer of $43 per share after market close last Thursday, a 16% premium to the close that day.
Cougar's lead compound, abiraterone acetate, is in two Phase III trials to treat metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer. One study is in patients who have progressed after docetaxel-based chemotherapy has failed; the other is in patients who have yet to receive chemotherapy. The compound inhibits steroidal enzyme 17alpha-hydroxylase/C17,20 lyase (CYP17)...