Celgene to buy Receptos for $7.2 billion; gains promising drug

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Celgene said it would pay $232 per share in cash for the smaller biotech. Receptos shares closed at $207.18 on Nasdaq on Tuesday.

The move comes just two weeks after Celgene said it would invest $1 billion in Juno Therapeutics to gain access to Juno's cancer immunotherapy portfolio in a deal that would allow Celgene to buy up to 30 percent of that company over the next decade.

"The Receptos acquisition provides a transformational opportunity for Celgene to impact multiple therapeutic areas," Celgene Chief Executive Bob Hugin said in a statement.

The deal could give Celgene lucrative new revenue sources, accelerating its growth beginning in 2019, the company said.

Receptos in April reported positive data in ulcerative colitis from a midstage trial of its experimental oral drug ozanimod, the medicine at the heart of the Celgene deal.

Phase III ozanimod trials are underway for both ulcerative colitis and relapsing MS. The drug could be approved for MS in 2018, Celgene said. Phase III colitis data are expected in 2018.

Celgene forecast peak annual ozanimod sales of $4 billion to $6 billion.

(Reporting by Amrutha Penumudi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Cynthia Osterman)

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