Try This Again... Key things I took note of this deal:
--> Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is buying hepatitis C drug developer Inhibitex Inc. for about $2.5 billion.
--> The all-cash deal for $26 a share, announced Saturday, would pay Inhibitex shareholders a 163% premium to its Friday close of $9.87 a share.
--> A key test for the compound's prospects is likely later this year, when analysts expect the release of Phase 2 study results.
--> One research firm estimated that the world-wide hepatitis C market could reach as much as $16 billion in 2015, up from $1.7 billion in 2010.
--> Hepatitis C kills at least 10,000 Americans each year, according to the National Institutes of Health, and is a leading reason for liver transplants.
--> For 2010, Inhibitex had revenue of $1.9 million in 2010 and posted a loss of $22.7 million. As of Friday, the company had a market capitalization of roughly $773 million.
--> In health care, drug companies that are facing major revenue declines because of patent expirations and other pressures have shown a willingness to pay well for other assets.
---> One of Bristol's acquisitions, a $2.1 billion purchase of Medarex in 2009, paid off last year with the approval of a skin-cancer therapy called Yervoy that is expected to have yearly sales exceeding $1.2 billion.