OSI Pharmaceuticals didn’t allow recent news from Genentech, which is developing a possible rival product, to spoil its planned takeover of eye-treatment firm Eyetech.
OSI said it acquired the company for about $685 million in cash and about 5.7 million shares of OSI common stock. The net value of the acquisition is about $650 million, after Eyetech’s cash and net operating losses are factored in, OSI said.
Over the summer, Eyetech, whose sole product Macugen treats the wet form of age-related macular degeneration, agreed to sell itself for about $935 million. That deal had placed a
value on Eyetech of $20 a share. But last week OSI worried investors by saying it wanted extra time, prior to closing the buyout, to assess data from a Phase III trial of Genentech’s experimental drug Lucentis (ranibizumab), also for wet age-related macular degeneration. In the trial,
the drug met its primary goal of maintaining vision in patients with the disease.
OSI released a statement over the weekend signaling its readiness to move ahead with the takeover.
OSI closes Eyetech deal in face of rivalry
OSI Pharmaceuticals didn’t allow recent news from Genentech, which is developing a possible rival product, to spoil its planned takeover of eye-treatment firm Eyetech.