BMS Hopes Turning Point Buyout Will Fare Better Than Roche’s Ignyta Acquisition

Despite Roche Holding AG’s troubled investment trying to compete with Pfizer Inc. in a genetically defined subpopulation of non-small cell lung cancer, Bristol Myers Squibb Company has decided to wager $4.1bn to buy out clinical-stage Turning Point Therapeutics Inc. and its ROS1/TRK inhibitor repotrectinib, which showed potential for a best-in-class profile in Phase I/II data released in April.

BMS said on 3 June that it has agreed to acquire the San Diego biotech for $76 a share, which equates to a approximately 122% premium over its end-of-day share price ($34.16) on 2 June. The $4.1bn acquisition is the second largest M&A deal of the year to date, trailing only Pfizer’s $11.6bn buyout of Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. on 10 May, and adds another precision medicine to Bristol’s oncology portfolio