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Amgen and Actelion meet to “talk takeover”

pharmafile | December 13, 2010 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing Acelion, Amgen, pharma acquisitions, takeover 

Amgen has met with Actelion to discuss a potential takeover but has not yet made a bid for the Swiss biopharmaceutical firm, according to reports. 

People familiar with the situation told Bloomberg that the chief executives of both companies had met to discuss Amgen’s interest in the company, but no formal offer had been made.

Actelion chief executive Jean-Paul Clozel is said to want to keep the company independent, yet stay on good terms with a potential suitor.

US-based Lilly and German pharma firm Bayer have also been linked to Actelion, which was originally started by researchers from Swiss firm Roche and has a number of products for respiratory and rare diseases.

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Its biggest seller is pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment Tracleer, which is forecast to make $2.1 billion by 2015.

It also develops Zavesca, for Gaucher disease, a rare genetic condition. This is however a crowded market place, with Shire and Genzyme already developing their own treatments for the disease.

Actelion currently has a market value of CHF6.8 billion ($6.9 billion), a relatively small amount for a big pharma company but a big buy for a biotech like Amgen. 

Ben Adams

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