By Don Miller
Big Pharma’s rapidly accelerating consolidation pattern snowballed yesterday (Thursday) as Roche Holding AG (ADR: RHHBY) struck a deal to buy the remaining shares it didn’t already own of Genentech Inc. (DNA) for $46.8 billion, or $95 each.
The buyout ends a long battle by Basel, Switzerland-based Roche to acquire the U.S. biotech company and its lucrative cancer drugs. When completed, the merger will create a combined company that would be the seventh largest drug firm in the United States by market share, with roughly $17 billion in U.S. annual revenue.
The deal marks the third mega-deal among large pharmaceutical companies this year — and the second this week – as large drug firms struggle with a long line of blockbuster drugs coming off patent, stiff competition from generic copycats, and a weak pipeline of new products.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) led things off in late January, as it made a $68 billion offer for Wyeth (WYE). When completed, that merger would form the world’s largest drug company. Then, on Monday, Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) agreed to pay $41.1 billion in stock and cash for Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP), to become the world’s second-largest prescription drugmaker.
In a smaller, but still high-profile pharma deal, Gilead Sciences Inc.(GILD), agreed to acquire CV Therapeutics (CVTX), stepping in as a white knight and blocking a hostile bid from Japanese rival Astella Pharma (PINK: ALPMF).
