Amgen snaps up another biotech startup, Alantos Pharma, for $300M
Amgen suddenly has a voracious appetite for startups. In its second deal this week, the biotech giant acquired Cambridge, Mass., biotech Alantos Pharmaceuticals for $300 million in cash. (The release is here.)
Founded in Heidelberg, Germany in 1999, Alantos changed its name from Therascope in 2003 and moved to Cambridge in 2004. The company develops traditional “small molecule” drugs — that is, therapies that can be delivered as pills rather than shots — for a… Continue Reading
Amgen buys kidney-disease biotech Ilypsa for $420M
Biotech powerhouse Amgen agreed to acquire Santa Clara, Calif.-based Ilypsa, a developer of drugs to treat complications of kidney disease, for $420 million in cash, roughly ten times what the company had raised in venture capital. The company’s release is here.
The high price could mean Amgen had to win a bidding war for Ilypsa, since one of the startup’s main investors was none other than the venture arm of Amgen archrival Johnson & Johnson.
Ilypsa has… Continue Reading
Symyx creates new transportation sensor company, Visyx
Symyx Technologies, of Santa Clara, said it has created an independent “spin-out” company to develop sensor technologies.
The new company, Visyx Technologies (no Web site yet), will focus on developing sensors for the transportation and industrial markets, particularly for use in passenger, truck and off-road vehicles, Symyx said in a statement.
Driving the deal was an investment in Visyx by CMEA Ventures, a San Francisco venture firm, which will own a majority of the company. Symyx… Continue Reading