Amgen acquires Five Prime Therapeutics in $ 1.9 billion deal to bolster its cancer treatment portfolio
Amgen Inc. AMGN,
on Thursday announced an agreement to buy biotech company Five Prime Therapeutics Inc. fprx
in a cash transaction valued at $ 1.9 billion. Five Prime shares were suspended for news until 9 a.m. ET, while Amgen shares slipped 0.2%. Under the terms of the deal, Amgen will pay $ 38.00 in cash for each Five Prime share outstanding, a premium of 78.7% over the closing share price on Wednesday of $ 21.26. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. Five Prime’s main asset is bemarituzumab, a “phase 3 ready” treatment for gastric cancer. “The acquisition of Five Prime provides a perfect opportunity for Amgen to strengthen our oncology portfolio with a promising, leading global asset for the treatment of gastric cancer,” said Amgen CEO Robert Bradway. Separately, Amgen has confirmed its forecast ranges for 2021 for adjusted earnings per share of $ 16.00 to $ 17.00 and revenue of $ 25.8 billion to $ 26.6 million, which is compare to FactSet EPS consensus of $ 16.80 and revenue consensus of $ 26.5 billion. Amgen shares gained 4.1% and Five Prime climbed 453.7% in the past 12 months, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF IBB,
rose 23.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
gained 15.4%.