Dive Brief:
- U.K.-based drug and medical device maker Mallinckrodt has agreed to buy U.S.-based immunotherapy company Therakos from the private equity firm Gores Group for $1.33 billion, the New York Times reports.
- Therakos creates immunotherapy treatment devices, including the Cellex platform for immune cell therapies that have been used in the U.S. on skin cancer and Crohn's disease patients.
- Mallinckrodt, mirroring the efforts of many healthcare and biopharma companies, has been on an acquisition binge since 2014.
Dive Insight:
This deal will allow Mallinckrodt to gain more access into the specialty pharma segment, including areas such as pain management therapies and NICU respiratory therapies.
Growth-by-acquisition has been the name of the game for at least the past two years, and that trend doesn't seem to be slowing down. Mallinckrodt has acquired biopharma companies including Cadence, Questcor Pharma, and Ikaria since last year (for $1.3 billion, $5.6 billion, and $2.3 billion, respectively).