U.S. pharmaceutical group Bristol Myers Squibb on Monday said it would acquire MyoKardia, Inc. to the tune of $13 billion as part of its goal to broaden its heart-treatment business and wean itself from cancer drugs.
Bristol Myers said it paid $225 a share in cash, a 61% premium to MyoKardia's closing stock price Friday. Shares of MyoKardia climbed 58% on course to a record peak in early morning session Monday, after the drugmaker confirmed it had given the green light for an acquisition by the American company.
Bristol-Myers pointed out that the deal will start adding to its total bottom-line in 2023, and is looking at financing the buyout with a mixture of cash and debt.
The agreement was made after Bristol Myers bought Celgene Corp. for $74 billion in 2019 that consolidated two of the biggest cancer vaccine businesses in the globe which also marked the biggest biotech contracts in history.
MyoKardia's stock has almost grown twice its size - advancing 92% - year to date through Friday, while Bristol-Myers' have weakened 8.4%. MyoKardia's premier pipeline vaccine mavacamten treats symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
MyoKardia has recently wrapped up its second-stage clinical trial of its mavacamten drug, which treats patients suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy -- a heart disease that increases the risk of strokes and heart failures.
Chronic heart disease affects around 200,000 people in the U.S. and Europe. With its deal with Myokardia, Bristol-Myers can now access mavacamten.
According to Bristol-Myers chief executive Giovanni Caforio, the buyout of MyoKardia "further boosts our portfolio and scientific capabilities," TheStreet quoted him as saying, adding that the deal is expected "to add a meaningful medium- and long-term growth driver."
Myokardia is anticipated to submit a New Drug Application for mavacamten to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March.
