FRANKFURT (AFP) – Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis said this week it had agreed to buy German biotech firm MorphoSys for EUR2.7 billion, giving it access to a new blood cancer treatment.
The all-cash deal will see Novartis offer EUR68 per share for the company, whose stock has soared in recent days amid speculation a deal was looming.
“With the planned acquisition of MorphoSys, we aim to further strengthen our leading pipeline and portfolio in oncology,”, Novartis’ chief medical officer Shreeram Aradhye said late Monday.
Of particular interest is MorphoSys’ pelabresib drug, currently in late-stage testing, which Novartis described as “a potential next-generation treatment” for people living with myelofibrosis, a rare type of blood cancer.
MorphoSys Chief Executive Officer Jean-Paul Kress said the deal with Novartis would “accelerate the development opportunities and maximise the commercialisation potential of pelabresib at a greater speed and scale”.
The acquisition, still subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the first half of the year.
Shares in MorphoSys surged by 15 per cent to EUR66 in early trading in Frankfurt yesterday.
