Bristol-Myers To Buy MyoKardia For $13B

Bristol Myers Squibb said on Monday it would buy MyoKardia Inc for about $13 billion to bolster its portfolio of heart disease treatments, ahead of the potential loss of sales exclusivity of some of its blockbuster drugs.

According to Reuters the deal comes close on the heels of Bristol Myers’ $74 billion acquisition of Celgene last year, which was aimed at creating an oncology giant and shielding itself from fierce competition for its cancer immunotherapy, Opdivo, from Merck & Co’s Keytruda.

The deal will also help Bristol Myers reduce some of its dependence on cancer drugs and give it access to Myokardia’s lead heart drug candidate with blockbuster potential, mavacamten, adding to its existing portfolio of heart drugs that includes blood thinner Eliquis.

Bristol Myers said it expects mavacamten to be a “multi-billion dollar asset” and drive significant growth through 2025 and the second half of the decade.

“I think it is a typical acquisition premium for our sales expectations for mavacamten as we had estimates in the initial (and lowest risk) indication of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) of about $2.5 billion by 2026,” said Wedbush analyst David Nierengarten, referring to the 61% premium offered by Bristol Myers.

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