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Business

Valeant Bids For Cephalon

by Ann M. Thayer
April 4, 2011 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 89, Issue 14

Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals has made a hostile takeover offer, worth about $5.7 billion, for the Pennsylvania-based biopharmaceutical company Cephalon. The offer came while Cephalon was making its own $163 million bid to buy the Australian biotech firm ChemGenex and about a week after Cephalon agreed to acquire Canada’s Gemin X Pharmaceuticals for $525 million, deals Valeant is critical of. Valeant says it has approached Cephalon’s management and board many times, only to be “disappointed by Cephalon’s unwillingness to engage in discussions in a timely manner.” Cephalon confirms receiving three offers from Valeant in recent weeks. Two were to buy the entire company, and a third offered to buy Cephalon’s non-oncology products for $2.8 billion, letting Cephalon keep its development pipeline. Cephalon’s board plans to meet to consider the proposals this week. Valeant, which has bought several specialty pharmaceutical firms in the past few years, is known for selling off or licensing R&D projects. “We value marketed products, not pipeline assets,” CEO J. Michael Pearson said in a conference call with analysts. “We do not bet on science but on management.”

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