Amgen Inc. may buy rival biotechnology company Immunex Corp. for at least $18 billion in cash and stock, said people familiar with talks between the companies.
Amgen may pay in the low-to-mid $30 range for each share, and as much as 25 percent of the purchase may be in cash, the people said. American Home Products Corp., which owns 41 percent of Immunex, is involved in the talks, the people said. CNBC reported the negotiations earlier.
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Seattle-based Immunex broke ground last month on a $500 million manufacturing facility in West Greenwich. The cell-culture manufacturing plant will produce the company’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, which reaped $1 billion in revenue in its first two years. The plant will employ 350 people.
Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, would gain Immunex’s Enbrel, a rheumatoid arthritis drug that’s selling so rapidly that Immunex is building a new plant to keep up with demand. Amgen is readying the introduction of Kineret, which would compete with Enbrel.
Shares of Amgen fell $3.79, or 5.9 percent, to $60.60 in late trading. Immunex shares rose $2.53 to $26.98. American Home shares rose 30 cents to $58.50.
Spokesmen for all three companies declined to comment.
Bloomberg
