Reuters 25 Aug 2013
Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) struck a deal to buy cancer drug maker Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc (ONXX.O) for about $10.4 billion on Sunday, as it moves to restock its product pipeline in response to declining sales of its flagship anemia drugs.
The acquisition – which ends a two-month-long auction of Onyx – represents the fifth-largest biotechnology deal in history. It gives Amgen full rights to Kyprolis, the new multiple myeloma drug that analysts expect to reach annual peak sales in excess of $2 billion.
The world’s largest biotechnology company will also gain a revenue stream from the liver and kidney cancer drug Nexavar that Onyx shares with Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE), as well as royalty payments on Bayer’s much newer colon cancer drug, Stivarga, and potential future royalties on an experimental breast cancer drug being developed by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N).
Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen has faced growing pressure to beef up its drug development pipeline as safety concerns have trimmed sales of its flagship anemia drugs, Aranesp and Epogen. Also, patents on four of its five top-selling drugs are set to expire starting in 2015.