NEW YORK — The biopharmaceutical maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has reached an agreement to acquire clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Inhibitex, Inc.
Bristol-Myers (NYSE: BMY), based in New York City, will pay approximately $2.5 billion for Inhibitex (NASDAQ: INHX), which is based in Alpharetta, Ga., outside of Atlanta. Bristol-Myers plans to purchase Inhibitex stock for $26 per share in cash. It will finance the deal using existing cash resources.
The acquisition gives Bristol-Myers, which employs about 420 people at a site in DeWitt, an antiviral drug Inhibitex is developing to treat the hepatitis C virus. That drug, INX-189, is in Phase II development.
“The acquisition of Inhibitex builds on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s long history of discovering, developing, and delivering innovative new medicines in virology and enriches our portfolio of investigational medicines for hepatitis C,” Bristol-Myers CEO Lamberto Andreotti said in a news release.