Otsuka acquiring Astex

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) will acquire Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTX) for $8.50 per share in cash, or about $866 million. The price is a 27% premium to Astex's close of $6.68 on Tuesday, before rumors surfaced that Otsuka was acquiring Astex for Y90 billion ($913.5 million). The boards of both companies unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close by early 4Q13. Jefferies advised Astex, and Goldman Sachs advised Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4578) is the parent company of Otsuka Pharmaceuticals (see BioCentury Extra, Sept. 4).

Otsuka will gain Astex's Pyramid fragment based screening technology and said the deal also will strengthen the pharma's oncology portfolio. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Eisai Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4523; Osaka:4523) market Astex's myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) drug Dacogen decitabine. Astex's cancer pipeline also includes SG-110, a second-generation version of Dacogen in Phase II testing for MDS, acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), ovarian and liver cancer; and AT13387, a non-ansamycin inhibitor of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) in Phase II testing for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), prostate and lung cancers. Otsuka markets Busulfex busulfan as a conditioning regimen prior to allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), and the pharma also markets leukemia drug Sprycel dasatanib with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) in the U.S., EU and Japan. ...