AbbVie buys Pharmacyclics for $21bn

Research-based biopharmaceutical firm AbbVie beat competitors Johnson & Johnson and Novartis in a bidding war to acquire Pharmacyclics, giving it access to the ground-breaking anti-cancer treatment, Imbruvica (scientifically known as ibrutinib).

Adding Imbruvica to AbbVie’s portfolio will reduce the company’s dependence on its best-selling treatment for rheumatoid arthritis

Adding Imbruvica to AbbVie’s portfolio will reduce the company’s dependence on its best-selling treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, Humira. “Its flagship product, Imbruvica, is not only complementary to AbbVie’s oncology pipeline, it has demonstrated strong clinical efficacy across a broad range of hematologic malignancies and raised the standard of care for patients”, said AbbVie’s chairman and CEO, Richard A. Gonzalez, in a press release following the announcement.

2014 was a momentous year for California-based Pharmacyclics. In July, the firm received full FDA approval for Imbruvica as a single-agent treatment for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Consent was then given by the European Commission for Pharmacyclics to market the treatment to patients with various conditions. The biopharmaceutical firm went on to win the Society for Medicines Research Award for Drug Discovery for ibrutinib, and was then named by BayBio as Company of the Year.

Following its noteworthy success over the past year, the purchase of Pharmacyclics became a hot target within the industry. “The acquisition of Pharmacyclics is a strategically compelling opportunity.  The addition of Pharmacyclics’ talented and innovative team will add enormous value to AbbVie”, said Gonzalez.

Under the terms of the deal, AbbVie will buy the outstanding shares of Pharmacyclics’ common stock for $261.25 per share. The tender is expected to close midway through the year, and will be followed by a second-step merger.