Celgene to Buy Juno Therapeutics For $9 Billion

Celgene Corp. (CELG) on Monday said it agreed to buy Juno Therapeutics Inc. (JUNO) for $87 a share in cash, or about $9 billion, in a move that will bolster Celgene's portfolio of blood-cancer drugs.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week the two companies were talking just days after Celgene announced another major deal, but the price wasn't known at that time.

Juno shares jumped 27% premarket Monday.

The deal will add a lymphoma treatment to Celgene's portfolio that is expected to gain regulatory approval in 2019 and have peak global sales of $3 billion.

Earlier this month, Celgene agreed to buy closely held Impact Biomedicines. Celgene is to pay $1.1 billion upfront and could make billions of dollars of additional payments if Impact hits certain milestones.

Celgene, based in Summit, N.J., is one of the biggest U.S. biotech companies. It is known for its blood-cancer drugs, notably top-selling product Revlimid, but has been trying to diversify its portfolio before Revlimid loses patent protection in the U.S.

The Celgene-Juno deal, which has been approved by both companies' boards, is still subject to customary closing conditions. Celgene expects it to close in the first quarter.

Write to Cara Lombardo at cara.lombardo@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2018 07:04 ET (12:04 GMT)