ParfumGigi@aol.com
15 janvier, 2007 18:53
Tanox Investors Approve Genentech Merger
Associated Press 01.15.07, 6:07 PM ET
Shareholders of Tanox Inc. on Monday approved the tiny biotechnology company's acquisition by drug maker Genentech Inc., Tanox officials said.
Under the terms of the sale, Genentech (nyse: DNA - news - people ) will buy Houston-based Tanox (nasdaq: TNOX - news - people ) for $919 million, or $20 per share.
The share price is a premium of 47 percent over Tanox's closing price on the last trading day before the deal was announced in early November. The stock had traded between $11.55 and $21 over the prior year before the offer was announced, and shares closed Friday at $19.81.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter after approval from regulators.
The acquisition will help streamline a three-way partnership Genentech and Tanox share with Novartis (nyse: NVS - news - people ) AG in the development and commercialization of the asthma-fighting drug Xolair, which Tanox created.
Once the deal is completed, South San Francisco-based Genentech will no longer have to make royalty payments to Tanox for U.S. sales. In addition, Genentech will now receive Xolair royalty payments from Novartis, which owns sales rights outside the country.
Tanox also is developing an experimental AIDS drug that has advanced to a large-scale human test.
