J&J to buy Crucell for US$2.29 billion

Johnson & Johnson has offered US$2.29 billion to buy Dutch biotech Crucell NV, the two companies announced this week.

J&J already has a 17.9 percent stake in the vaccine and antibody specialists as part of the terms of a joint venture agreement between the two companies signed last year. That transaction involved a purchase price of EUR20.67 per share, while the remainder is to be sold at a 20 percent premium of EUR24.75 per share.

Giles Somers, senior healthcare analyst at Datamonitor, said that the acquisition is an important play for J&J, which has lagged behind some of its big pharma rivals in entering the emerging vaccines business.

“In times of the approaching patent cliff and increasing genericisation, vaccines are increasingly regarded as a key revenue generator for Big Pharma, as they are generics-proof.” Huge windfalls made during the last H1N1 Outbreak also served to underscore the market potential of the vaccines business.

J&J’s acquisition follows similar moves by rivals Pfizer and AZ which respectively acquired vaccine specialists Wyeth and MedImmune. J&J will also now compete directly with the established vaccine divisions of major pharma players such as GSK, Sanofi Pasteur and Merck.