AstraZeneca Buys Ardea In First Big Deal In Years. More Coming
April 23rd, 2012
Making its biggest acquisition in five years, AstraZeneca says it will buy Ardea Biosciences Inc. for $32 a share, a 54% premium over Ardea’s closing price Friday. Ardea is in the third phase of clinical testing lesinurad, its urea reducing drug for the treatment of gout. The San Diego-based Ardea also has cancer treatment drugs in mid-stage testing. For AstraZeneca, the acquisition, valued at $1.26 billion, may be the first of more this year. BusinessWeek
