Roche snaps up ignyta and its experimental lung cancer drug for $1. 7 billion
- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN
Play all audios:
Swiss pharma giant ROCHE (RHHBY) is buying the smaller U.S. biotech firm IGNYTA (RXDX) for $1.7 billion in cash, picking up an experimental pill in the late stage of development that targets
lung cancer caused by a rare gene defect. Ignyta is being acquired for $27 per share, the companies said Friday. That’s a 74 percent premium to Ignyta’s closing price on Thursday. Roche
aims to close the deal in the first half of 2018. Roche is already the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, so the Ignyta deal, while relatively small in size, still bolsters its pipeline.
Biotech investors will be happy because the transaction comes at the end of a year in which the scope of overall M&A activity fell below expectations. STAT+ Exclusive Story Already have
an account? Log in THIS ARTICLE IS EXCLUSIVE TO STAT+ SUBSCRIBERS UNLOCK THIS ARTICLE — PLUS DAILY COVERAGE AND ANALYSIS OF THE BIOTECH SECTOR — BY SUBSCRIBING TO STAT+. Already have an
account? Log in Individual plans Group plans View All Plans To read the rest of this story subscribe to STAT+. Subscribe