REUTERS: Celgene Corp will sell its psoriasis drug Otezla for US$13.4 billion in cash to Amgen Inc, taking Celgene a step closer to a US$74-billion takeover by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Bristol-Myers said on Monday it expects the deal to close by 2019 end. The company in June offered to sell Otezla to allay concerns raised by U.S. antitrust regulators, with an analyst valuing a deal for the drug at about US$9 billion at the time.
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The psoriasis drug brought in sales of US$1.61 billion last year. Amgen said it expected Otezla sales to grow at least in the low-single digits over the next five years.
The deal for Otezla and certain related assets and liabilities is valued at US$11.2 billion, net of the present value of US$2.2 billion in future cash tax benefits.
Bristol-Myers Squibb said it was increasing a previously planned US$5 billion accelerated share buyback to US$7 billion.
Its shares rose 5.2per cent and those of Celgene gained 3.7per cent in trading before the opening bell, while Amgen fell about 1per cent.
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(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
