Medivir in BioPhausia bid, eyes hepatitis drug boost

Pharmaceuticals firm Medivir offered $90 million for BioPhausia on Monday, hoping its Nordic peer's sales and marketing skills will help in the launch of Medivir's treatment for hepatitis C. Medivir said in a statement the acquisition would expand its activities in the Nordic countries and create a platform for the expected launch and commercialisation of TMC435.

It said the drug was "Medivir's most promising Phase 3 clinical project for the treatment of Hepatitis C, in the Nordic region where full commercial rights have been retained". Medivir said it was offering a mixture of cash and new class B Medivir shares, valuing BioPhausia at around 565 million crowns ($90.14m) or 1.65 crowns per share. It said the offer premium was 44 per cent over the volume weighted average price of BioPhausia shares over the last 30 days and that BioPhausia's board had unanimously backed the bid.