BMS buys Kosan Biosciences

Bristol-Myers Squibb company has announced the completion of a deal to acquire Kosan Biosciences for $190 million (95.8 million pounds).

Kosan Biosciences is now a subsidiary of the company.

On June 25th Bristol-Myers Squibb bought 97.1 per cent of all shares in Kosan Biosciences, following a cash tender offer in May this year to buy each share for $5.50. This totaled 41,449,606 shares.

The remaining 2.9 per cent of shares were bought on June 26th.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a biopharmaceutical company with headquarters in New York.

Kosan Biosciences is a cancer therapeutics company which is focused on developing two anticancer agents, heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors and epothilones.

Earlier this month, Kosan Biosciences announced its Hsop90 inhibitor, Tanespimycin, had shown a high level of activity during a phase 2 trial for Trastuzumab Resistant/Refractory HER2-Positive breast cancer.

Hsp90 inhibitors are unique in the way they target a multitude of pathways which are involved in cancer cell growth.