Sanofi makes bid to acquire Medivation

Sanofi has made a bid to acquire fellow pharmaceutical company Medivation as part of its mid-term growth strategy.

The company is willing to pay $9.3 billion (6.37 billion pounds) to purchase the San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company, which is responsible for the marketed prostate cancer therapy Xtandi.

Medivation has not agreed to the deal, but Sanofi believes it has the potential to drive significant value for the respective companies' shareholders and employees, as well as for patients and caregivers.

It will help Sanofi to strengthen its oncology capabilities, particularly in the field of prostate cancer treatment, while Medivation would benefit from Sanofi's global capabilities, substantial resources, internal pipeline of assets and complementary product offerings.

Olivier Brandicourt, chief executive officer of Sanofi, said: "With Medivation's best-in-class offerings in prostate cancer, we believe a combination would benefit patients and, at the same time, generate value for shareholders of both companies."

It was announced earlier this month that the company is expanding its facility in Geel, Belgium in order to support the production of monoclonal antibodies.