Amgen replenishes its pipeline with $1.9 billion acquisition

The USA’s largest biotech firm Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN), which has been fairly quiet on the M&A front for a while, announced it was splashing out nearly $2 billion on an acquisition today.

Amgen has reached an agreement to acquire Five Prime Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FPRX) for $38.00 per share in cash, representing an equity value of around $1.9 billion. This acquisition adds Five Prime's innovative pipeline to Amgen's leading oncology portfolio, the company said. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Unusually for an acquirer, Amgen’s shares were up 1.5% at $227.38 by late-morning. However, its target, Five Prime, leapt 78% to $37.83.