
Astellas to buy Iveric Bio for $5.9B in cash as biotech awaits August FDA nod in retinal disease
Astellas Pharma will buy New Jersey biotech Iveric Bio for $40 per share in cash, the companies said Sunday night, setting up the Tokyo drugmaker for a potential showdown with Apellis Pharmaceuticals in geographic atrophy.
The $5.9 billion deal adds to a string of buyouts in recent weeks as Big Pharmas have gone hunting for late-stage drug candidates to boost their aging pipelines, with Pfizer, GSK, Merck and others lining up acquisitions.
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