Roche Holding will acquire a majority stake in molecular and genomic analysis firm Foundation Medicine Inc for up to $1.18 billion, it said on Monday, in a move to bolster the Swiss drugmaker's personalised cancer treatments.This targeted approach to treating disease is gaining traction in many medical fields and is attractive to governments and insurers who pay for healthcare, since it means that drugs should go only to patients who are likely to benefit.Basel-based Roche, which will purchase U.S.-based Foundation through a combination of outstanding and newly issued shares, said it is looking for the deal to help to develop combination therapies and more accurately identify cancer patients."The intention is to improve decision-making and support optimisation of patient care as oncology management becomes more complex," Roche said in a statement.
Foundation Medicine, Inc. is a commercial-stage company. Shares of FMI traded higher by 3.37% or $0.78/share to $23.93. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $18.25 and as high as $45.00. On average, 268540 shares of FMI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 312316.
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