Dive Brief:
- The Financial Times reports that U.S. biotech giant Amgen is finally on the hunt for an acquisition after largely staying out of the recent flurry of healthcare and life sciences deals.
- Amgen is reportedly scanning the biopharma landscape for a mid-sized deal worth around $10 billion. And according to sources who spoke to FT, the biotech doesn't want to roll the dice, concentrating on firms that have proven candidates that are approaching market launch.
- The last time Amgen made a major acquisition was in 2013, when it scooped up Onyx Pharmaceuticals and its cancer med Kyprolis. More recently, the company has made smaller deals and licensing arrangements, such as its acquisition of Dutch biotech Dezima Pharma in September.
Dive Insight:
The biopharma and healthcare sectors have had M&A fever for the past two years, with absolutely no signs of slowing down (there have been more than $850 billion in healthcare deals since January 2014). But Amgen has adopted a more coy approach, betting that patience will ultimately pan out for the company as it sizes up the best possible targets for an acquisition.
One reason that Amgen may now be opening itself up to the possibility of a mid-sized M&A is the FDA's endorsement of Kyprolis earlier this year as part of a combo treatment for multiple myeloma. Before that indication, Kyprolis sales had brushed up against a ceiling set by its limited label for treatment of that cancer.
The question is: What type of company would fit Amgen's needs? The firm has already committed itself to conducting major biosimilar research, aware that this new class of drugs (in the U.S., anyways) will eat into its sales unless the company can also get involved in the sector. That sets up the possibility of an arrangement with later-stage biosimilar drug manufacturers.