U.S. group Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) is close to an agreement to take over Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ONXX) in a deal worth $10.5 billion in cash, said sources close to the talks for Bloomberg. The price of $125 per share is exceeding by 6.9% the Onyx exchange quotation at the end of Friday’s session, $116.96. Amgen’s offer is reflected in a multiple of 13 times Onyx earnings. The deal might be finalized as early as Monday.
The previous Amgen’s bid was $120 a share in June, meaning Onyx was valued at $8.5 billion, but the offer was declined.
Onyx has recently received the approval from the U.S. regulators for the cancer drug Kyprolis, a new treatment for multiple myeloma, estimated to generate by 2021 revenues of over $3 billion.
Contacted by Bloomberg, representatives of the two U.S. companies declined to comment. The sources said the negotiations were not concluded and there is still a chance that the takeover does not materialize. Other bids might be still considered. According to information previously published in the press, the big pharma groups AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Novartis have also been interested in taking over Onyx.
Onyx is known in the U.S. mainly for the drug Nexavar used in the treatment of liver and kidney cancer, sold in Europe through a partnership with the German pharmaceutical company Bayer.
The $10.5 billion takeover would be the third largest biotechnology transaction in the last three years. Sanofi bought in 2011 for $20.1 billion the U.S. company Genzyme which specializes in developing drugs for rare diseases. Subsequently, Gilead Sciences bought Pharmasset for $10.6 billion.
Amgen is known primarily for its U.S. dominance in the segment of drugs against anemia and seeks to diversify its portfolio.
Onyx’s sales have doubled in the second quarter of this year to $153 million, but posted a non-GAAP loss of $29 million. Nexavar sales were $82 million and Kyprolis sales were $61 million in the same period of this year.
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