Amgen to Acquire Onyx Pharmaceuticals in $10.4 Billion Deal

Seeking to build its oncology drug portfolio, Amgen has agreed to acquire the biopharmaceutical Onyx Pharmaceuticals for $10.4 billion ($9.7 billion net of estimated Onxy cash). The deal, which values Onxy at $125 per share, has been approved by the board of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearance.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals has a growing multiple myeloma franchise, which includes Kyprolis (carfilzomib) for injection already approved in the United States. Onyx holds global rights to Kyprolis, excluding Japan. Kyprolis has orphan-drug designation in the United States with exclusivity until July 2019, and patents in the US which extend until at least 2025. In addition, Onyx has three partnered oncology assets: Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets (an Onyx and Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals compound), an oral kinase inhibitor, approved in the US for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma and advanced renal cell carcinoma; Stivarga (regorafenib) tablets (a Bayer compound), an oral kinase inhibitor, approved in the US for for metastatic colorectal cancer; and palbociclib (a Pfizer compound), an oral, small molecule cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor, now in Phase III trials, to treat ER+, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Amgen says that the acquisition of Onyx will add to Amgen's late-stage pipeline. This pipeline includes nine innovative products for which registration-enabling data are anticipated by 2016. Four of these products are oncology products. Onyx's pipeline complements Amgen's oncology portfolio, according to Amgen.