Amgen agrees BioVex takeover deal

Amgen has signed a deal to acquire the biotechnology company BioVex for a potential total of $1 billion (628.83 million pounds).

The transaction has been approved by both firms' boards of directors and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011, making BioVex a wholly-owned Amgen subsidiary.

BioVex is currently developing OncoVEX, a promising new oncolytic vaccine for the treatment of melanoma, as well as head and neck cancer, which is now undergoing phase III testing.

Dr Roger Perlmutter, Amgen's executive vice-president for research and development, said the company "is particularly excited about joining with BioVex and its talented staff to focus on advancing this late-stage investigational therapy, with the hope of bringing it to market within the next few years".

BioVex is also working on a genital herpes vaccine called ImmunoVEX, with trials of the drug now taking place in the UK.

This week, Amgen published its financial report for 2010, a period that saw the firm experience a year-on-year revenue growth of three percent.