Jan. 8, 2012, 11:05 a.m. EST
By Russ Britt, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb is purchasing Inhibitex Inc., a specialist in hepatitis C treatments, in a cash tender offer for $2.5 billion.
In a deal announced late Saturday, Bristol-Myers will pay $26 a share for Inhibitex based in Alpharetta, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta.
Inhibitex shares ended Friday trading at $9.87, up 24 cents, or 2.5%. New York-based Bristol-Myers was up marginally to $34.22.
While Inhibitex describes itself as dedicated to developing treatments for all serious infections, it’s now focused primarily on the treatment of hepatitis C. Its lead product in that realm is called INX-189, an oral treatment which it says has exhibited potent antiviral activity. INX-189 is in Phase II development.
“This transaction puts INX-189 and the company’s other infectious disease assets in the hands of an organization that can more optimally develop them, and which believes as strongly as we do in INX-189’s potential in the treatment of chronic [hepatitis C],” Russell Plumb, Inhibitex’s chief executive said in a prepared statement.
“There is significant unmet medical need in hepatitis C. This acquisition represents an important investment in the long-term growth of the company,” Lamberto Andreotti, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s chief executive said in the same statement.
Bristol-Myers said the deal should be dilutive to earnings through 2016, with an impact of 4 cents a share in 2012 and 5 cents a share in 2013.
Russ Britt is the Los Angeles bureau chief for MarketWatch.
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