Japan's Takeda to acquire Millennium Pharma for $8.8 billion

10 April 2008

Mumbai: Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, Japan's largest drug firm, will acquire US biopharma firm Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc for $8.8 billion, in the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese drugmaker.

Takeda has agreed to pay Millennium $25 per share - a 53 per cent premium over Millennium's closing share price on Wednesday.

The acquisition will give Takeda rights to Millennium's blood-cancer medicine Velcade before the patent on its best-selling Actos diabetes pill expires in 2011.

Takeda expects Velcade, which is jointly marketed in the US with Johnson & Johnson (which also markets the drug in other countries), to achieve blockbuster sales of well over $1 billion.

Developing cancer drug pipelines has been a top priority for Takedo, which has been late to step into the lucrative business. Takeda now hopes to become one of the world's top three oncology companies.

"We aim to become a global leading company in cancer treatments where unmet medical needs are great and where there will be strong business growth," Takeda president Yasuchika Hasegawa told a news conference.