Celgene to buy blood cancer drug maker Gloucester Pharmaceuticals for $640M cash, milestones

Celgene buying Gloucester Pharma for $640 million

NEW YORK — Biotechnology company Celgene Corp. said Monday it will buy privately held Gloucester Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $640 million, getting access to key cancer drugs.

The deal includes $340 million in cash upfront and $300 million in future regulatory milestone payments.

Gloucester, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., develops drugs for blood cancers with limited treatment options. The Food and Drug Administration approved Gloucester’s drug Istodax in November as a treatment for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. It is approved only for patients who were on at least one previous therapy.

Gloucester is seeking other approvals, and European regulators are reviewing Istodax. The company is testing drugs for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, which are both types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It is also developing combinations of drugs for solid tumors and for multiple myeloma.

Celgene’s drugs include Revlimid, which is used against multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia; and Vidaza, which is approved for treatment of the bone marrow disease myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia.

Celgene, based in Summit, N.J., said the purchase will close in the first quarter. It will add to profit in 2011 but have no impact in 2010, Celgene said.