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Gilead Sciences to Acquire Biotech Pharmasset for $11B

Beakers (Research.gov)

(Research.gov)

Pharmaceutical maker Gilead Sciences in Foster City, California says it will acquire the biotechnology company Pharmasset Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey, with the transaction expected to close in the first quarter of 2012. In the deal, Gilead will pay $137 per share, for a total value of about $11 billion.

Pharmasset is a clinical-stage company specializing in treatments for viral infections, currently focusing on development of oral therapeutics for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The company now has three clinical-stage candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV advancing in trials in various populations. Pharmasset’s lead product candidate, PSI-7977, is an oral nucleotide analog inhibitor of HCV.

Gilead’s R&D portfolio includes seven unique molecules in various stages of clinical development for the treatment of HCV. The company has three separate all-oral Phase 2 studies underway, and expects clinical data from these studies to become available in 2012 and early 2013. Gilead expects Pharmasset’s compounds to complement Gilead’s HCV portfolio.

Under the merger, Gilead will acquire all outstanding shares of Pharmasset’s common stock at a price of $137 per share in cash, through an initial tender offer and later follow-up for any untendered shares. The $137 per share price in the transaction, says Gilead, represents an 89 percent premium to Pharmasset’s closing share price on Friday, the last trading day prior to announcement, and a 59 percent premium to Pharmasset’s all time high closing stock price.

Read more: FDA Fast-Tracks Treatment for Hepatitis C Infection

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