Astellas to Acquire Germany's Ganymed Pharmaceuticals

Astellas Pharma is to acquire Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG (Mainz, Germany) in a bid to build upon its oncology franchise as a platform for sustainable growth.   Astellas will pay €422 million ($460m) to acquire 100% of the equity in Ganymed. In addition, Ganymed's shareholders will become eligible to receive up to €860 million ($938m) in further contingent payments based on progress in the development of IMAB362, Ganymed's most advanced clinical program. Upon completion of the transaction, Ganymed would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to be finalized in the next several weeks.   Ganymed is a privately-held biopharma company founded in 2001 and focusing on the development of a new class of cancer drugs. It has several oncology pipeline assets in pre-clinical and clinical stages.