Sanofi offers US$9.3bn for Medivation

FRENCH drug maker Sanofi has placed an unsolicited bid of US$9.3bn to buy US-based cancer specialist Medivation in order to boost its prostate cancer treatment portfolio.

Medivation currently has one therapy drug called Xtandi on the market and has two additional cancer assets in clinical development. Sanofi says integrating Medivation would mean benefiting from “Sanofi's global capabilities…and internal pipeline of assets”.

Olivier Brandicourt, CEO 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.”

The move comes after David Hung, the CEO of Medivation, told Sanofi on 3 April that he and the company had “no interest in discussing the transaction”.

In a public letter released today, Sanofi divulged the details of the bid to follow up the initial non-binding offer sent to Hung and Medivation’s board on 15 April.

“We have not heard anything from you for almost two weeks, other than an acknowledgment of receipt of our letter. We do not understand the delay in responding. The price we put forth represents a very substantial premium, and it would be all cash without any financing condition,” said Brandicourt in the letter.

In a statement acknowledging the public letter, Medivation said: “As today's public disclosure of this proposal does not differ materially from the private correspondence received less than two weeks ago, the Board expects to complete its review of the proposal at a scheduled meeting today and will provide an update promptly thereafter.”