Pharma firm Alexion to buy peer Synageva
Paris
ALEXION Pharmaceuticals Inc on Wednesday said it agreed to buy Synageva BioPharma Corp for US$8.4 billion, more than twice its market value, to expand its offering of potentially high-priced medicines for rare diseases.
Alexion's willingness to pay an eye-popping premium for Synageva demonstrates that the appetite for large acquisitions in healthcare continues unabated. It also highlights the attraction of medicines for rare diseases that can command exceptionally high prices with little payer pushback because of the limited number of patients.
