Genmab buys PDL facility for $240M

Denmark's Genmab A/S says it has entered into an agreement to acquire PDL BioPharma's antibody manufacturing facility located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, USA, for $240.0 million to be paid in cash. The transaction also includes land, equipment and access to a leased space housing a development lab, and is expected to close during the current quarter.

PDL has been disposing of assets since last year, when it announced that, with the non-superiority of its ulcerative colitis drug candidate Nuvion (visilizumab) being established, it would implement a restructuring program (Marketletter September 10, 2007). That news caused the firm's share price to plunge 19.5% to $19.

More recently, the stock has fallen further, on disappointment over the price it received for sell offs, such as the $200.0 million from Japan's Otsuka for for Busulfex (busulfan) and $170.0 million from EKR Therapeutics for the rights to its cardiovascular produce Cardene IV (nicardipine). At close on the day of this latest announcement, February 21, PDL's stock was trading at $15.75.