Acorda Picks Up Late-Stage Parkinson's Candidate With $363m Biotie Buy

Acorda Therapeutics Inc.'s president and CEO Ron Cohen has been dropping hints for some months that he was pursuing significant business development opportunities and the EU was his preferred hunting ground. Finally, on Jan. 19, Acorda said it has agreed to acquire Biotie Therapies Corp. of Finland for around $363m. Biotie has a Parkinson's disease drug candidate in Phase III which has a mechanism of action that has caused problems for other companies.