Bristol Myers to buy heart drug developer MyoKardia for about US$13b

[BENGALURU] US drugmaker Bristol Myers Squibb said on Monday it would buy MyoKardia for about US$13 billion to expand its heart drugs business and reduce its dependence on cancer treatments.

Bristol Myers will pay US$225 per share in cash, a 61.2 per cent premium to MyoKardia's Friday closing price.

The deal follows Bristol Myers' US$74 billion acquisition of Celgene Corp last year that combined two of the world's largest cancer drug businesses in the biggest pharmaceutical deal ever.

With the deal for Myokardia, Bristol Myers will get access to mavacamten, a drug candidate for a chronic heart disease that affects up to 200,000 people across the United States and Europe.

Myokardia is expected to submit a marketing application for mavacamten to the US health regulator in the in the first quarter of 2021.

Bristol Myers Squibb said it expects to explore mavacamten for additional indications and develop MyoKardia's pipeline of other drugs.

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REUTERS