Merck enters race for cancer drugmaker Medivation
Merck & Co. Inc. has shown interest in buying Medivation Inc. earlier this month. Medivation, best known for its prostate cancer drug Xtandi, has already rejected two acquisition offers from Sanofi. Pfizer Inc., Celgene Corp., and Gilead Sciences Inc. have also shown interest. Sources asked not to be identified because details of the sale process are confidential.
Sanofi is going after Medivation to expand in the oncology sector and to compensate for slumping diabetes revenue. For Merck, Medivation would complement its existing cancer portfolio, which includes Keytruda.
Medivation reported continued double-digit year-over-year growth of its primary drug, Xtandi, affirming the company’s expectations of more than 50 percent revenue growth for the year. The company also cited positive late stage data for Talazoparib, a drug under development for breast cancer treatment.
