羅氏83億收購美國製藥公司InterMune

The Swiss drug maker Roche agreed on Sunday to buy InterMune — which sells a drug to treat a deadly lung disease — for $8.3 billion, as pharmaceutical companies continue to seek new products to bolster their offerings.

在製藥企業紛紛尋求以新藥擴充產品類別之際，瑞士藥企羅氏公司(Roche)週日同意以83億美元收購InterMune，後者擁有一款藥品，可以治療致命的肺部疾病。

The price, $74 a share, represents a 38 percent premium to InterMune’s closing price on Friday and a 63 percent premium to the price on Aug.12, before news reports that InterMune might be acquired.

上述交易的收購價爲每股74美元（約合455元人民幣），較InterMue週五的收盤價溢價38%，較收購消息傳出前8月12日的股價溢價63%。

The acquisition was announced during a flurry of pharmaceutical deals and attempted deals. About $87 billion in pharmaceutical acquisitions were made in the first half of this year, eclipsing the total for all of 2013, according to Evaluate, a research company. The total for the first half does not include the $54 billion acquisition of Shire by AbbVie, which was formally announced in July.

羅氏公司宣佈上述交易的同時，製藥行業的交易數量出現了猛增。研究公司Evaluate的數據顯示，今年上半年，該行業的收購交易總額約爲870億美元，超過了2013全年的規模。這還不包括7月正式宣佈的艾伯維(AbbVie)收購沙爾製藥(Shire)的540億美元的交易。

InterMune, based in Brisbane, Calif., has one product on the market: a drug called pirfenidone to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal scarring of the lungs.

InterMune總部設在加州布里斯班，在市場上只有一款產品：吡非尼酮。該藥治療的是特發性肺纖維化，一種可導致肺部結痂的致命疾病。

InterMune, which is still not profitable, sells pirfenidone under the name Esbriet in Europe and Canada, where it received regulatory approval in 2011 and 2012. The drug could receive approval in the United States by Nov. 23.

尚未盈利的InterMune於2011年和2012年分別在歐洲和加拿大獲得了監管機構的批准，以品牌名稱Esbriet銷售吡非尼酮。該藥品可能會於11月23日前在美國獲批。

Sales of Esbriet were $35.7 million in the second quarter, but some analysts expect annual revenues to eventually exceed $1 billion.

Esbriet的第二季度銷售額爲3570萬美元，但分析師預計，該產品的年度營收最終會超過10億美元。

“We are obviously focused on high unmet medical needs and looking for medicines that make a significant difference clinically, and this clearly fits that bill,” Daniel O’Day, who runs Roche’s pharmaceutical business, said in an interview on Sunday.

“我們明確地專注於目前無法被滿足的重大藥品需求，尋找臨牀上能產生重大影響的藥物，而它顯然符合我們的要求，”羅氏公司製藥業務負責人丹尼爾·奧黛(Daniel O’Day)週日接受採訪時說。

He said the acquisition would strengthen its portfolio of drugs for respiratory diseases. That has not been a major business for a company mainly known for its cancer treatments. Roche sells Xolair, a drug for asthma, and Pulmozyme for cystic fibrosis. But it has another drug, lebrikizumab, that is in late-stage clinical trials to treat severe asthma and is also being evaluated as a possible treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

他說，這筆交易將強化公司的呼吸系統藥物的產品線。羅氏公司以生產抗癌藥物聞名，呼吸系統藥物並非其主要業務。該公司已推出了治療哮喘的奧馬珠單抗，以及治療囊腫性纖維化的阿法鏈道酶。該公司另一款針對嚴重哮喘的藥物lebrikizumab目前處於臨牀試驗的後期，同時正在就其作爲特發性肺纖維化藥品的可能性接受評估。

Roche, however, has historically not relied much on acquisitions for its pharmaceutical business, though it has in its diagnostics business. The big exception was its acquisition of the part of biotechnology pioneer Genentech that it did not already own for $46.8 billion in 2009.

與該公司的疾病診斷業務不同，羅氏的製藥業務長期以來並沒有過多地依賴收購交易。不過，一個較大的例外情況是，該公司在2009年曾以468億美元的價格收購不在其手中的生物科技先鋒企業基因泰克(Genentech)的部分股份。

In the last couple of months, Roche has announced some smaller acquisitions, agreeing to pay at least $725 million for privately held Seragon Pharmaceuticals, which is developing breast cancer drugs, and at least $250 million for privately held Santaris Pharma, which develops drugs that work by affecting RNA.

過去幾個月，羅氏宣佈了幾筆規模較小的收購交易，包括以至少7.25億美元收購私人持股的Seragon Pharmaceuticals，以及以至少2.5億美元收購了私人持股的Santaris Pharma。Seragon Pharmaceuticals正在開發乳腺癌藥物。而Santaris Pharma開發的藥物主要通過影響RNA產生療效。

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which has no known cause, affects 70,000 to 200,000 Americans, according to various estimates. As scarring builds up in the lungs, people gradually lose the ability to breathe. Death often occurs two to five years after diagnosis.

特發性肺纖維化的原因尚不明確，各類數據顯示，美國的患病人數在7萬到20萬之間。隨着肺部結痂的增多，患者會逐漸喪失呼吸能力，且通常在確診後兩至五年內死亡。

No treatments are approved for use in the United States, though steroids and some other drugs are used off label, and a relatively small number of patients can receive lung transplants.

美國沒有批准任何特發性肺纖維化的治療方法，但是類固醇等藥物已通過超適應症用藥投入使用，少數患者可以接受肺部移植手術。

But Esbriet, if it is approved, probably will not have the market to itself for long because Boehringer Ingelheim of Germany has also applied for approval of a drug called nintedanib.

不過，Esbriet即使獲批，可能也無法長期壟斷市場，這是因爲德國製藥企業勃林格殷格翰(Boehringer Ingelheim)正在申請批准的一款名爲nintedanib的藥物。

Both drugs slow the decline in lung function, according to papers in The New England Journal of Medicine in May. Evidence from clinical trials indicates that pirfenidone can also help patients live longer, though it is not clear if the evidence is strong enough for that to be listed on the drug’s label if it is approved.

這兩種藥物都能夠延緩肺功能衰竭的速度，《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》(The New England Journal of Medicine)5月發表的一篇論文稱。臨牀試驗得到的證據顯示，吡非尼酮也能延長患者的壽命，不過尚不清楚相關證據是否足夠強大，讓這一點可以在藥品獲批後出現在標籤上。

Mr. O’Day said data from the latest clinical trial, published in May, drew Roche’s interest. He said his company approached InterMune in late July.

奧黛說，5月發表的最新臨牀試驗數據吸引了羅氏公司。他說，羅氏公司在7月末接觸了InterMune。

The acquisition represents a triumph for InterMune after a history of travails. A previous drug being tested for pulmonary fibrosis failed in clinical trials. The company’s former chief executive, W. Scott Harkonen, was convicted of wire fraud for issuing a news release that prosecutors said was an effort to promote off-label sales of that drug. Then, in 2010 the Food and Drug Administration rejected pirfenidone, asking for an additional clinical trial.

這次收購代表着InterMune長期艱苦努力後的一次勝利。該公司之前推出的一款肺纖維化藥品的臨牀試驗宣告失敗。公司前首席執行官W·斯科特·哈爾克寧(W. Scott Harkonen)被判電信欺詐罪名成立，因爲據檢方稱，他通過發佈新聞稿來推動這款藥物的超適應症銷售。2010年，美國食品與藥品管理局(Food and Drug Administration)拒絕批准吡非尼酮，要求對其進行更多臨牀試驗。

The merger is expected to close by year end. Mr. O’Day declined to say if there would be layoffs, though he said the main purpose of the merger was “growth synergies.”

這筆交易預計將於年底完成。奧黛拒絕透露公司是否會裁員，不過他說，收購主要是爲了實現“增長的協同效益”。

Citigroup and the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Roche. Centerview Partners, Goldman Sachs and the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore advised InterMune.

爲羅氏提供諮詢服務的是花旗集團(Citigroup)和達維律師事務所(Davis Polk & Wardwell)。爲InterMune提供諮詢服務的是森特爾維尤合夥公司(Centerview Partners)、高盛(Goldman Sachs)和科瓦斯-斯懷恩-摩爾國際律師事務所(Cravath, Swaine & Moore)。