Chiron/PowderJect: US Snaps Up Europe's Best

01 Jul 2003

• By Melanie Senior

Chiron's acquisition of PowderJect is the most recent sign that the vaccines industry is coming of age, taking the field's only two mid-sized players up among the top-ranking Big Pharma. This deal was largely about infrastructure. But it suggests any European biotech with a valuable asset--be it product or distribution network--is an attractive takeover target for US firms.

When PowderJect PLC's directors in May 2003 recommended accepting Chiron 's 550p a share cash offer, the US group had won a hard-fought victory. [See Deal]. Chiron had been trying to buy its UK-based counterpart for months. Back in October 2002, Chiron informally offered 450p per share for the group. But PowderJect, one of the European sector's few profitable companies, could afford to turn its nose up.

PowderJect's CEO Paul Drayson, PhD, who had anyway been seeking to broaden the business through acquisition, couldn't refuse the more generous offer, valuing the company at £542 million ($878 million)....

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