Singapore: Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and AstraZeneca expanded their diabetes alliance through BMS's acquisition of Amylin Pharmaceuticals.

It was recently announced that BMS will acquire Amylin at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $5.3 billion. The total value of the transaction, including Amylin's net debt and a contractual payment obligation to Eli Lilly, together totaling about $1.7 billion, is approximately $7 billion.

Additionally, Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca announced that, following the completion of Bristol-Myers Squibb's acquisition of Amylin, AstraZeneca will make a payment to Amylin, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb, in the amount of approximately $3.4 billion in cash. Profits and losses arising from the collaboration will be shared equally. In addition, AstraZeneca has the option, exercisable at its sole discretion following the closing of the acquisition, to establish equal governance rights over key strategic and financial decisions regarding the collaboration, upon the payment to Bristol-Myers Squibb of an additional $135 million. 

Amylin is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative medicines for patients with diabetes and other metabolic diseases. Amylin's primary focus is on the research, development and commercialization of a franchise of GLP-1 agonists, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

In a company release, Daniel M. Bradbury, president and chief executive officer of Amylin, highlighted the attractiveness of Amylin's portfolio which resulted in this step. He added, "Over the last several months, our Board of Directors, with the assistance of our financial and legal advisors, has been actively engaged in a robust and thorough strategic process designed to maximize the value of our unique diabetes franchise. Our recent US launch of Bydureon, the first ever once-weekly therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes, solidified our position as a driving force in the fight against this rising global epidemic. Importantly, this transaction with Bristol-Myers Squibb and their alliance with AstraZeneca provide the means to maximize the potential and impact of Amylin's innovative diabetes therapies and reach more patients around the world with treatment options to help manage their disease."

Some of Amylin's assets include a GLP-1 agonist franchise which includes two treatments for type 2 diabetes, Byetta injection and Bydureon including delivery devices and formulation improvements, Metreleptin, a leptin analog currently under review at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of diabetes and/or hypertriglyceridemia and Symlin (pramlintide acetate) injection an amylin analog, for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients with inadequate glycemic control on meal-time insulin. This also includes a state-of-the-art sterile production facility in Ohio.