Forest Laboratories Inc said it would purchase Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc for up to $1.46 billion including milestone payments to access Furiex's promising treatment for irritable bowel syndrome.This is the latest in a series of healthcare deals and offers that have been structured to either gain scale or build up expertise in specific disease areas.Forest, which itself is being acquired by Actavis Plc , said it expected Furiex's eluxadoline to be "very complementary" to its own bowel drug Linzess.Eluxadoline, which is being developed for treating symptoms of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, significantly alleviated symptoms of the disease in two large late-stage trials in February.
Shares of ACT fell by 2.25% or $-4.56/share to $198.07. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $103.75 and as high as $230.77. On average, 2904530 shares of ACT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2190919.
Forest Laboratories, Inc. (Forest) develops, manufactures and sells branded forms of ethical drug products, which requires a physician's prescription. Shares of FRX fell by 1.76% or $-1.61/share to $89.84. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $36.89 and as high as $100.88. On average, 3698830 shares of FRX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2900056.
Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a drug development collaboration company. Shares of FURX fell by 4.18% or $-3.5/share to $80.15. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $32.01 and as high as $121.97. On average, 338232 shares of FURX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 224062.
Source
