Bloomberg: Warner-Lambert to Acquire Agouron Pharmaceuticals for US$2.1 Bln in Stock
Bloomberg News
January 26, 1999, 4:19 p.m. ET
Warner-Lambert to Buy Agouron Pharmaceuticals for $2.1 Bln
La Jolla, California, Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) - Warner-Lambert
Co., one of the world's most profitable drugmakers, said it will
buy Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc., maker of the best-selling
protease inhibitor for AIDS, for $2.1 billion in stock.
The move will give Warner-Lambert its first AIDS drug --
Agouron's Viracept. That could provide Warner-Lambert with a
hedge against a decline in sales of one of its top selling drugs,
the diabetes pill Rezulin, which faces a federal safety review
and new competition.
''By concentrating our resources and expanding into new
therapeutic categories we will be well positioned to continue our
impressive growth in the pharmaceutical sector,'' Warner-Lambert
Chairman and Chief Executive Melvin R. Goodes said in a
statement.
Shares in Agouron were halted before the news was released.
Earlier the the La Jolla, California-based biotechnology company
rose 3 21/32 to 56 13/16.
Viracept boosts the value of the company because Agouron
held onto the rights to market it in the U.S., unlike many
biotechnology companies who rely on big drugmakers to sell their
drugs. That means Warner-Lambert won't have to share future
profits from the AIDS drug.
Warner-Lambert rose 1 to 68 1/2. The acquisition was
announced just before the close of U.S. stock markets.
--Jim Finkle in the San Francisco newsroom (415) 912-2996 with
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